Kerala still idle; Tamil Nadu to reap profits of Vizhinjam port

Industrial and infrastructure projects related to the Vizhinjam port are yet to begin in Kerala. However, anticipating the potential of the Vizhinjam port, our neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu has already acquired a large amount of land in the Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts to prepare storage facilities and logistics parks. It will not take long for the highway to extend to Kanyakumari. Therefore, lorries carrying goods from Vizhinjam will be able to reach the logistics parks of Tamil Nadu within hours. The preparations involve the construction of godowns, containers and repairing yards. If Tamil Nadu continues with its bustling pace in development, the profits of Vizhinjam, which should have been in Kerala’s pocket, will slip away to the neighbouring state.

Therefore, Kerala should immediately find land for such facilities and start work on a war footing. State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has clarified in an interview with 'Kerala Kaumudi' that industrial development will be possible quickly if plantation land is acquired for this purpose. The minister has opined that the industrial development that is being formed in conjunction with Vizhinjam is very large, capable of spreading across the breadth and length of Kerala. The current law is an obstacle to using plantation land for industrial development. Therefore, the government should prepare to amend the Land Reforms Act, which was introduced years ago.

According to the existing law, plantation land cannot be used for other purposes. With the decline in the price of rubber and the increase in the population of the state, the use of plantation land for other purposes is unavoidable. The government should initiate steps to amend the law to use such land for industrial purposes. Since land is very expensive in port and urban areas, it will hinder the arrival of large-scale investors. Therefore, the government should focus on utilising plantation land in rural areas away from the city for this purpose. KINFRA has so far been able to find only 300 acres of land. This is insufficient. No efforts have been made yet to implement the government's announcement that 10,000 acres of land within a 50-km radius of the port will be acquired and handed over to private entrepreneurs.

Apart from resorting to excuses, the government should take steps to find and transfer the necessary land for this by amending the Land Reforms Act, keeping the interest of the state in mind. If land is leased to industrialists, there will be no shortage of investment there. Thousands of young people will also get employment opportunities in the enterprises that emerge through this. There is a recommendation from the secretary-level committee that the government can acquire more than five lakh acres of undocumented plantation land of big businessmen and use it for other purposes. On this basis, the government can move forward with the law-making. It is the need of the hour for the government to use wisdom to get things done rather than being tender at an unlikely time.