After remaining a non-starter for a decade, the hurdles have been finally cleared for the construction of mega Coconut Industrial Park of KSIDC in Kuttiyadi, Kozhikode.
The government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 7.5 crore for taking up various construction works at the park which is coming up at 116 acres of land in Kuttiyadi. The Departmental Working Group in a meeting held on November 1 approved the release of the fund based on a proposal submitted by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) towards the infrastructure development which include power and water supply at the park.
The government has envisaged the park project to produce an array of coconut-based value added products including coconut ice cream, virgin coconut oil, coconut honey and packed tender coconut water.
It was in 2011 that the project was conceived and a company was formed. The park is being promoted by KSIDC and it will be the first Coconut Industrial Park to come up at Kuttiyadi which is considered to be the heartland of coconut cultivation in Kerala. The project ran into trouble after land owners moved court against the government’s decision to purchase land through negotiation instead of acquisition.
However, the government secured a favourable verdict from the court in 2017 after a three-year-long battle. The land at Velam near Kuttiyadi was bought when Elamaram Kareem was the industries minister in 2007.
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