Tata Steel’s project eludes Kerala; company opts for Tamil Nadu

James Paul
26 September 2003

Kochi: Yet another industrial unit that might have provided job opportunities for a few hundreds has eluded the Kerala coast with Tata Steel signing an agreement with its consortium partners for setting up a titania project in Tamil Nadu.

The consortium partners who signed with Tamil Nadu are from Finland, USA and Germany. With a vast stretch of mineral-rich sand beaches in Kerala, what made the Tatas turn to Tamil Nadu is a case study for the planners and decision-makers of the state.

The person who is most saddened by the Tata group decision is Jiji Thomson, former secretary of the industries department of the Kerala state government. Thomson, the main brain behind the Global Investors'' Meet (GIM), was so shocked by the turn of events.

Kerala, he says, has the potential and scope to exploit the mineral-rich sands in the western coastline. "I consider this development of the Tatas looking towards the Tamil Nadu coast for the titania project as the indecisiveness on the part of our leadership."

He lists a number of reasons for investors thinking thrice before making any overtures to the offers made by Kerala. "Instead of asking what is wrong with our system, we should ask what is right here. Had we moved with a sense of dedication and devotion, no doubt, this project might have come to Kerala," says Thomson.

Any non-resident Indian familiar with the system of Kerala will hesitate to invest in the state. "Even after explaining everything in detail, investors are sceptical to deal with the leadership. Uncertainty happens to be our hallmark," laments Thomson, who has a number of incidents to tell, starting from the fiasco of the Kochin Industrial Drinking Water Scheme and the Skybus system because of a liberal dose of politics.