American Company EMCC International and KSINC are coming together with a 2950 Cr rupee project that promises to be a leap forward for the Fishing sector in Kerala. KSINC MD N Prasanth and EMCC International India Pvt Ltd President Shiju Varghese signed the MoU for this today. KSINC is an organisation directly dealt with by the Chief Minister.
The project is a result of the agreement between EMCC and the Government of Kerala made during the “Ascend 2020” investors meet held earlier by the State Government. The project will include building deep sea fishing trawlers and port development activities among others. EMCC will be building 400 trawlers in Kerala with the help of KSINC. Currently foreign trawlers are more in use in the State. When this scientifically planned project is implemented, there will be a complete Kerala touch to this sector. Further, this will be the largest Foreign Investment Project in the State.
KSINC will be providing all technical help and giving full responsibility to EMCC to build the trawlers. The cost of building one trawler of international quality and standards is around two crore rupees. The 400 trawlers to be build is to be distributed to the existing fishermen of the State. When these many trawlers return from fishing, there will be a shortage of berthing facilities in Kerala. So KSINC will also be building new harbours and renovating and expanding existing harbours. EMCC will also be opening units in Kerala to process the fish harvested through these trawlers. Families of the fishermen will be given primacy in employment in these units. EMCC President Shiju Varghese said that processed food will be distributed through 200 outlets to be opened in Kerala and also exported to other countries as part of the project.
KSINC MD N Prasanth said that with this project, over 2500 employment opportunities will be created in the State. One trawler will be given free to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute for research purposes with the aim of using CMFRI research developed methods for eco-friendly fishing. It is hoped that this can lead to doubling the income of fishermen communities. Hospitals for fishermen will also be setup as part of the project. The first one will be setup at Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram. N Prasanth also said that this is the biggest work order in the history of KSINC. Former Chief Secretary Tom Jose is the Chairman of KSINC
