Thursday, July 29, 2004
BMW team concludes Kerala assessment visit
Our Correspondent / Kochi July 29,2004
A high level delegation from German car major BMW concluded a 3-day visit to the state to check out the possibility of starting a vehicles manufacturing unit.
According to Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) officials, the team visited many sites and also held discussions with higher officials of the state industries department.
BMW is expected to take a decision on the facility in the next three months.
The delegation evaluated facilities in and around Kochi, including major hospitals and schools and held discussions with the trade union leaders too.
The team also visited a site at Kalamassery near Kochi and another at Nedumbassery near the Kochi international air port.
Kinfra will provide 25 acres of land adjacent to Kochi Indira Gandhi Co-operative Medical College for the first phase and another 50 acre for further expansion in due course.
The team had discussions with the industries secretary K Mohankumar, Kinfra managing director G C Gopalapillai, KSIDC managing director P H Kurian and Development Commissioner of Kochi Special Economic Zone Paul Antony on various issues relating to the proposed unit.
The Kochi Port Trust chairman Jacob Thomas also held discussion with the BMW team and he said that the proposed Vallarpadam container port was an added attraction to the German car major.