Adani Group to invest ₹30,000 crore in Kerala in 5 years 

Adani Group has committed to invest ₹30,000 crore in Kerala in the next five years.

Addressing the inaugural session of Invest Kerala Global Summit, Karan Adani, Managing Director, Adani Port & SEZ Ltd  said the group will invest ₹20,000 crore in the Vizhinjam International Transhipment to develop it as the largest transhipment facility in this part of the region. The group had already invested ₹5,000 crore in the project.

He also said that the group will invest ₹5,500 crore to develop the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. The passenger handling capacity of the airport will be increased to 12 million from the current levels of 5 million. Another major investment announced by Karan Adani includes a logistics hub and e-commerce hub in Kochi and enhancing its cement terminal capacity.

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The two-day Invest Kerala Global Summit kicked off on Friday with the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan highlighting the achievements made by the State in developing a robust startup ecosystem and the State achieving major strides in Ease of Doing business.

According to the Chief Minister, Kerala has witnessed establishment of 6200 start-ups in the last 8 years with an investment of ₹5800 crore creating 62,000 employment opportunities. “We aim to establish 15,000 start-ups and create one lakh employment opportunities by 2026”, he said.

Kerala’s initiatives in the area have been acknowledged globally. Global Startup Eco-system Report stated that there is 254 per cent growth in start-ups from July 2021 to December 2023, he added.

The Chief Minister also assured investors coming to Kerala that they would not face the cobweb of procedural delays and meet the barriers of red tape. “We have made major strides in simplifying procedures as regards investments,” he said.

Highlighting the investment opportunities in the country, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government is working in tandem with all States to make India a $30-35 trillion economy by 2047 from the current $4 trillion.  Wooing investors, he said there are opportunities for growth in the country. The country will soon start talks with Bahrain for a free trade agreement.  India is already in talks with the European Union, the UK and Oman for trade deals.

“We will soon start discussions with the US administration a strong, powerful economic engagement and a bilateral trade deal which will be the mother of all deals providing huge opportunities for Indians and Americans to work together and complement each other’s strengths in this very turbulent world,” the minister said.

In his online address Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road, Transport & Highways announced 31 new road projects worth ₹50,000 crore for Kerala.