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Inkel Limited, Kerala government’s public-private partnership initiative for establishing the state as a prominent educational and industrial hub, is in talks with the industry players to attract Rs 1,000 crore investment in the Greens Park hub at Panakkad in Malappuram district.
The project is coming up in joint collaboration between Inkel and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation.
“We are targeting an investment of Rs 1,000-crore. We're in discussions with major companies and educational institutions for setting up their facilities at the park spread across 168 acres. We have set 2018 as the deadline to achieve the target,” said Inkel managing director T Balakrishnan.
Inkel has so far invested Rs 20 crore for developing infrastructure facilities, and plans to spend an additional Rs 50 crore for creating allied infrastructure and support facilities in the hub. Inkel Greens Park would house an SME industrial zone park and an educational zone Edu City.
While 17 companies have already lined up Rs 80 crore for the SME park, six major educational groups have decided to set up their institutions at the Edu City with an investment of Rs 50 crore.
Balakrishnan said they had already inked pacts with various companies, including MES Group, Atlas Ideal, Fayeda Group, SSG Group, VKC Elastomers, Capstone Ventures, KMCC, Rafmoh Gold and Ajfan Foods, Duratec, and Samastha for setting up their facilities at the park. “By 2017, we expect the SME Park alone to generate employment for 1,400 individuals,” he added.
While the MES Group will set up a skill development centre, Atlas Ideal plans to establish an International School of Commerce. The campus will also have a pharmacy college by Fayeda Group and the SSG Group's Gem and Jewellery Institute.
In the SME park, Inkel had constructed five factory buildings, where the VKC group is operating a large footwear manufacturing unit employing around 400 people.
