Stressing the government’s commitment to protect MSMEs in the State, P Rajeeve, Industries Minister has announced that Kerala’s first Unity Mall for promoting regional products, especially those with Geographical Indication (GI) tag, will come up at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram.
He said the Cabinet has given approval for the proposed mall and it will be presented before the Union Ministry at the World Food India 2023 expo in New Delhi.
Apart from the Unity Mall (Ekta Mall), a permanent international convention centre set up by Kinfra for MSME trade fair, will also be inaugurated by December-end.
Regional products
All States can showcase their products at the Unity Mall. Products of MSMEs and those under One District One Product (ODOP) scheme from Kerala can be sold at the Unity Mall, he said while speaking at B2B meet organised by the Industries Department on the sidelines of the trade fair being held as part of the week-long Keraleeyam programme.
Proposed in the Union Budget for all States, the Unity Mall aims to promote and sell each State’s own ODOP, GI and other handicraft products.
A. P. M. Mohammed Hanish, Principal Secretary, (Industries), said with the launch of Unity Mall and global convention centre, MSME can come up and make progress with their products. “The link between industries and campus was established with the aim of creating human resources pool for the benefit of MSME sector.”
Suman Billa, Principal Secretary (Industries) said about ₹8,000-crore investment has come to the State through the registration of 1,40,000 MSMEs last year, resulting in creation of three lakh job opportunities.