From the small window of the plane one could not miss the undulating green topography spreading toward the distant horizon. Tall and lanky palm trees stood on guard like some vast ancient militia. As the plane dipped to land at the Nedumbassery Airport, the heart skipped a beat as the swaying coconut trees came closer and there was little indication of modern vestiges of civilization. It was almost as if the plane was making an emergency landing right in the bosom of some jungle. An airstrip appears, and the plane smoothly comes to a halt in one of the most modern airport in India, the first one to be built with private partnership. Kerala, like the Nedumbassery airport in Kochi, is undergoing drastic change; retaining its old world charm even while it takes rapid strides toward modernity.

Kerala is no Laggard
Over the past decade and more, Kerala has evolved into one of the most sought after tourist destination in India. People from across the globe flock to soak in the pristine beauty that pervades almost all of the state. Labelled as Gods own country, the state of Kerala has become almost a mandatory stop for tourists. Yet, the same cannot be said about investment. While its neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been able to attract investments in various businesses, Kerala was completely unable to.

It is ironical that the idyllic and picturesque coastal state figures quite high on a number of social and developmental parameters, for instance, thanks to being a cent percent literate state, Kerala is the healthiest, most gender-equitable, literate region, and has the highest life expectancy rate in the third world, according to a survey. In fact, a nationwide corruption survey by Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country. Yet, businesses, both domestic and international, seemed unwilling to do business in Kerala. The reason was simple, lack of political will, resulting in tardy and uneven development across the region. In fact, Kerala was home to the first ever IT park in India in the early 90s that opened in Thiruvananthapuram.

Agree, that we had the lead in terms of IT advancement. Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram was the first such park in India, way back in the 90s. But due to a variety of reasons, namely negative perception and political will, the state lagged behind. Even though it might have fallen in the race for investments, the state has continued to be a flag bearer for India in terms of social indices. Take the case of education, infrastructure, and people, there is nothing that the state really lacks, we just need to market it soundly and the story will be quite different, says KR Jyothilal, special secretary, Department of IT, Kerala.

Indeed there seems to be a major shift happening on the ground when it comes to business and investment climate.

Advantage Kerala
Literally, every survey in India ranks Kerala quite highly in terms of investment destination. There are a number of reasons why companies, especially in the IT domain are opening up campuses and development centers in Kerala. The biggest attraction is cost saving; according to an estimate, companies can save as much as 50% on the cost of operation as compared to other destinations like Bangalore, Chennai, etc. Next is the highly literate workforce that is abundantly available. And finally there is sturdy infrastructure in place. Kerala is well connected to all parts of the world through undersea cable connections. In fact, Kochi is the only city in the country that happens to be the landing point for both SEA-ME-ME3 (it lands in Mumbai as well) and SAFE undersea cables that connect the country to rest of the globe.

Little wonder then, that in the past 2-3 years, Kerala has been able to attract large investments by IT companies. Investments in Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi, two of the largest IT parks in India, have already touched close to Rs 6,000 crore and another Rs 3,000 crore is expected to flow in as part of their expansion. According to available figures, Technopark hosts over 120 IT and ITeS companies employing over 15,000 people, in a campus spread over nearly 300 acres.

While, on the other hand, in a short span of close to 4 years, ever since its inception in 2004, Infopark has managed to exert a pull on IT majors including TCS, Wipro, Affiliated Computer Services, OPI Global, IBS Software, and US Technology.

Also on the cards are projects like Smart City, Shoba Hi-tech City, CIAL IT Park, Technocity, which are expected to attract an investment to the tune of Rs 2 bn. Kerala, it seems, has finally started to hard sell itself as the IT destination.

Transforming into a Knowledge Society
The current government in Kerala has drawn a roadmap for ICT development in Kerala. The governments vision is to turn Kerala into a knowledge society with sustainable economic growth, social harmony, and high quality of life for all. The administration frequently harps on inclusive growth and the same is evident from the numerous e-governance projects initiated by the government. Take for instance the Akshaya project, initiated to ensure that the benefits of ICT reach the commonest of the commonest Keralite. The state government is also in the process of setting up around 3000 broadband-enabled information hubs, or Akshaya e-centers throughout the length and breadth of the state. The project simultaneously envisages on providing functional computer literacy to at least one person from each of the 64 lakh families in the state.

In the adjacent future, every citizen of the state will have a unique Akshaya ID, whereby he or she can make use of the numerous e-governance applications through the Internet or the kiosks. The government is also in the process of implementing the SWAN (state-wide area network) whereby all the 14 districts of the state will be further connected to smaller blocks in the state. As of now, all the districts have been inter-connected by a 30 Mbps pipe and further all the districts will be connected on the block level by a 2 Mbps pipe, making available facilities like video-conferencing and other such things to state officials as well as the common man.

Kerala has the potential to become another Tamil Nadu or Karnataka, when it comes to attracting investment, considering, the rapid development in the different cities in Kerala and the rapid deterioration of infrastructure in places like Chennai and Bangalore. Kerala might just be the next best place for investment in India, says Amaranth Raja, CEO INAPP, member board, Kerala IT Mission.

Hopefully, even as Kerala moves stridently forward in terms of attracting investments and ramping up infrastructure, it will not be at the cost of the mesmerising natural beauty it is endowed with. There are few other places in the world that offer such high quality of living accompanied with challenging job prospects. And, because of this reason, Kerala manages to be one of the most sought after employment destination in the country at present. Heres wishing that the planes that land at Nedumbassery airport would continue to do so among the green foliage, irrespective of how much ever modern and hep Kerala might transform into.

Shashwat DC & Urvashi Kaul
shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in

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