Overview

 The overarching objective of the division is to facilitate the development of Industry and Infrastructure in the State. The division seeks to ensure that such developments in Industry and Infrastructure are aligned to the development requirements and priorities of the State as a whole. Through it's inputs it assists the efforts of Departments and agencies in moving towards co-ordinated and sustained development in the sectors. It assists and advices the government in formulation of the most ideal policies for sectors and implementation of Plans. The Industry and Infrastructure Division functions under a Chief, supported by a team as in the organogram.

Major Sectors under the purview of the Division
Major sectors dealt in the division are:

• Energy Development
• Industries
• Mining
• Information Technology
• Transport and communication
• Tourism
• Science Technology and Environment

3. Major Responsibilities

• Formulation of Five-Year Plans and Annual Plans
• Preparation of Plan Budget and Economic Review (English and Malayalam versions)
• Mid-term appraisal of Plans/Schemes/Programmes
• Appraisal and progress review of Plans/Schemes/Programmes etc.
• Preparation of back ground papers and reports for task forces/expert committees and conducting workshops.

4. Key Initiatives of the Division

1. Evaluation report on ‘Policies and agencies for industrial development in Kerala’

State Planning Board along with Centre for Management Development (CMD) has prepared an evaluation study report (Final draft) on ‘Policies and agencies for Industrial Development in Kerala’. The main objectives of the study is to understand and document the policies and schemes (say, on land allocation or entrepreneurship promotion) of various promotional agencies and their effectiveness with respect to promoting industrial development of Kerala, assess the organisational strengths and capabilities of the various agencies, identify a set of parameters to review the performance of these agencies and suggest ways how these agencies can achieve greater co-ordination in their activities and build synergies in various areas of industrial development.

The main contents of the report are:-
Understanding of the structure of the industry in Kerala (historic, current and prospective), key factors of industrial development aligned to each industry structure and role of institution in the context of industrial structure, aligning policies to Kerala’s industry context, recommendations for change in the transformation of stand-alone MSMEs in the current set up in to profitable and sustainable ventures suited for investment, recommendations for financial eco system for sustainable operations of the MSMEs.
recommendations for overall change in the roles of the industry promotion agencies for hub and spoke model, change in the industry cadre structure to align to the roles, change in the governance structure to align to the roles and change in role of agencies to support financial eco system and talent eco system.

2. Evaluation study on ‘Employment creation in the textile and manufacturing sector in Kerala’

State Planning Board along with Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board (RIAB) has rolled out an evaluation study on ‘Employment creation in the textile and manufacturing sector in Kerala’. The main objectives of the study is to understand the challenges faced by the existing units in the textile and garment sectors, the best course for revival for each textile unit in the public or cooperative sectors and to suggest specific revival packages, revival proposal of handloom, power loom and Khadi sectors, to make proposals about developing inter-linkages, how the State can leverage on the dynamism of the retail business in clothing in Kerala to build backward linkages in the garment an textile sectors and to evolve an action Plan to encourage more entrepreneurship in these sectors, especially women entrepreneurs. The draft final report of the evaluation study has been completed.

3. Handbook on Technology Business Incubator

The study “preparation of Handbook on Inception Operation and Management of Technology/Business Incubators in Kerala was taken up by State Planning Board with the objective of studying the existing incubation centres in the State, key components of incubation infrastructure, laying down the procedures for setting up incubators, set out the roles, responsibilities and methods of operation of incubators. The study report is a reference document for formation and management of Technology Business Incubator.

4. Evaluation study on various renewable energy programmes implemented by ANERT

The “Evaluation study on various renewable energy programmes implemented by ANERT” was conducted by Energy Management Centre and the draft report has been submitted. The objectives of the study were to analyse the performance of ANERT as an implementing agency of various renewable energy schemes, identify causes for shortfalls in the performance and provide appropriate suggestions for improvement and further action. The study has also assessed the impact of the schemes carried out so far. The recommendations of the report seek to strengthen renewable energy programmes in Kerala.