From rxpgnews.com
Kerala invites diaspora to discuss new company
By IANS,
Mar 5, 2007 - 4:40:39 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, March 5 - Kerala has invited 50 leading non- resident Keralites - from the Gulf countries next week to discuss a new government project, Infrastructure Kerala Limited -, that is meant to channel investments from the diaspora.
State Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem, who is also chairman of InKel, said the meeting on March 17 at Kochi would decide the dates for holding road shows to be held in the Middle-East to raise capital for the new company.
'The meeting would finalise the road shows that we have fixed for April-May to be held in all the Middle East countries. The road shows in Europe and USA are yet to be decided upon,' said Kareem.
The total paid up capital of the company would be Rs.1 billion, and the Kerala government would hold 26 percent stake.
Former Chief Secretary John Mathai has been appointed the special officer of InKel.
The new company, to be formed as a public-private partnership, is different from the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, which are fully dependent on the state government.
'We have decided to approach public sector institutions, like financial institutions, to raise capital for the company. A meeting to that effect would be called later,' said Kareem.
InKel has already identified four places in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and in north Kerala where they would set up the basic infrastructure for investors who are interested in starting sunrise industries.
According to a study by the Centre for Development Studies here, Kerala has a record two million people working abroad, who send around Rs.200 billion annually to the country.
The study said the remittances of NRKs were 1.74 times the revenue receipts of the government and seven times what Kerala receives from the central government.
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