Centre to invest Rs 5000 cr in Kerala

Over the next seven to ten years, the Centre will make an investment of anywhere between Rs 4000 to Rs 5000 crore in Kerala, Union Minister of state for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the 'yuva sangamam' programme, organised by the Kerala Students Union, in connection with the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations here, Ramesh said "the proposed investment has been possible entirely because of the Congress Government at the Centre."

"Although we are in the opposition in the state, at the Centre we have taken up the concerns of Kerala and given it highest priority." "If the state government is more cooperative and more active, we can accomplish much more. Unfortunately I do not know when I am talking to the state government..which faction of the state government I am talking to," he said.

Alleging that there is groupism in the CPM, the Union Minister said "in many ways now the CPM has become like what the Congress used to be many years ago. But the congress is now more united and the CPM has become more Congress like." "I only wish that the Kerala government is more active, more aggressive. Individually I have good cooperation with Kerala ministers," he said, adding "individually like all Keralites they are all good, but at the end of the day unless the state government takes the initiative and move forward many of these programmes will not get implemented with the seriousness with which we should."