The Legislative Assembly has passed the demand for grants to the tune of Rs.414 crores for the Industries and Commerce Department on July 21, 2010 after an extensive debate. Replying to the debate on the demand for grants, the Honourable Minister for Industries and Commerce Shri Elamaram Kareem said that the investor confidence has increases over the last four years and so has the basic infrastructure for industries. The State now had a peaceful industrial climate that was encouraging to entrepreneurs. The State's industrial growth rate of 9% last year was higher than the national average. More than 25,000 MSME units were registered in the past four years.

The Minister also said that the State government was in favour of employees' representation in the managements of State owned Enterprises. The government has taken a policy decision in this regard and the criteria were being worked out. The performance of PSUs was being appreciated at the national level. Ten new units of PSUs would be commissioned by the end of this year. The Titanium Sponge factory being built at Chavara, in collaboration with ISRO would be ready by December this year. The government has also proposed a mineral research institute at Chavara.

The income support scheme implemented for coir workers would be extended to those in khadi and handloom sectors. He also announced the Industries Minister’s Scholarship Fund. While previous governments introduced the voluntary retirement scheme for closure or restructuring, the present government considered voluntary retirement only for revival of PSUs, he said. The feasibility study for a north-south high-speed railway corridor would be ready in five months. Kinfra has acquired 4781 acres for developing industrial parks across the state.

The foundation Stone for the Komalappuram Spinning & Weaving Mills in Alappuzha was laid on June 15, 2010 by the Finance Minister Shri Thomas Isaac. The Kerala Spinners at Komalapuram, which was closed down for so many years, was taken over by the Government from the Private Sector. Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem, presiding over the function, said the government was pumping in capital investment to the tune of Rs.475 crore into the public sector this fiscal, the first such investment in the State in the last 25 years.

The Rs.36 crore Komalapuram venture, to be operated by the State Textiles Corporation, would become operational by December this year and would offer jobs strictly to eligible local residents. Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran handed over the machine purchase order for the firm, which has 19 spinning frames, an employment potential of 500 persons and a production capacity of 15,000 metres of cloth a day.

The Kerala Spinners, which ran in profits for some time after being established at Komalapuram near here in 1964, gradually sank into losses and was shut down in March 2003. After several rounds of talks and the management showing no signs of attempting to resurrect the company, the State government decided to take over the firm, which was the first time in the country that a State was re-opening and taking over a firm that ran into losses after being managed by private hands. The firm was formally taken over by the government on November 30, 2009 by handing over the keys of the firm to Kerala State Textile Corporation (KSTC). 

R Ramachandran, Chairman, Sidco said that the unit was envisaged to cater to the needs of high-precision tools and dies by Defence, aerospace, railways and other sectors and the micro, small and medium industries. It will manufacture items such as jigs, fixtures, cutting tools, gauges, plastic moulds, forging dies and pressure castings by using computer-aided designing and manufacturing technology.

Besides, the centre will provide practical training to mechanical engineering degree and diploma holders in designing and manufacturing of moulds, dies, jigs, fixtures and other things. As of now, SIDCO has 75 units under its control and eight of them are manufacturing units. The corporation has been supplying components and equipment to central PSUs such as ISRO and VSSC and the State public sector units such as Kerala Automobiles.