Kerala Budget 2023-24: Rs 1,000 crore to be allocated for ‘Make in Kerala’

On Friday, Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal submitted the state budget for fiscal 2023-24 to the Assembly.

According to the minister, Rs 1,000 crore will be provided to the ‘Make in Kerala’ scheme. ‘Make in Kerala,’ a flagship state project, will improve facilities and infrastructure to promote domestic manufacturing, as well as employment, entrepreneur, and investment prospects in Kerala.

The Centre for Development Studies performed a comprehensive analysis on Make in Kerala, according to the minister.

According to the research, Kerala imported goods worth roughly Rs 1,28,000 crore in 2021-2022, with other states accounting for 92% of the total.

The state’s exports were valued Rs 74,000 crores during this period, according to the minister, with 70% going to other states. According to the minister, the data indicates a very substantial trade gap, demanding ‘Make in Kerala’.

The study’s goal was to identify foreign products that could be manufactured locally, he noted.

The minister noted that initiatives were being made to discover and support items that could be manufactured in Kerala by analysing productivity, labour expenditure, and profit.

Entrepreneurial groups and science and technology research institutions were also invited to participate in the project’s development.

The minister stated that support under ‘Make in Kerala’ will be provided to Agritech startups in the state that generate value-added products, and that help, including interest subvention for identifying funding for firms, will be provided. Balagopal delivered the pre-Budget Economic Survey report for FY 2021-2022 before the Assembly on Thursday.