Times View Case of doing business is a cornerstone of the LDF government’s development agenda. Yet, there is a huge gap between what is promised and reality on the ground. It was a significant achievement to persuade Nissan to set up shop in Kerala, but once the MoU was signed, the govt seems to have promptly forgotten it! Whether it is Technopark or Anthoor, there seems to be an entrenched aversion towards change – rather than help with speedy solutions, local politicians and bureaucracy appear to be heavily invested in creating obstacles. Equally important is the lack of appropriate skillsets among the state’s young workforce. These problems must be addressed post-haste if Kerala has to live up to its entrepreneurial promise.

Nissan cites air connectivity from Tvm as major concern

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A year after Nissan Motor Corporation Limited opted for Kerala ’s capital city instead of Chennai to set up its first global research hub, the auto major has accused the LDF government of going back on its assurances, especially regarding the setting up of a speedy single-window clearance for the project and in ensuring adequate social and physical infrastructure in proximity to the hub.Nissan Motor Corporation’s chief digital officer Swaminathan T V has sent a strongly-worded four-page letter (accessed by TOI) to chief secretary Tom Jose, KIIFB CEO K M Abraham and secretaries of four departments concerned on June 20. “Nissan has had to approach various departments in the government towards fulfilment of conditions for our success in Trivandrum, which has been time and effort consuming, and other than running from department to department, it does not necessarily solve our needs,” the letter says.As Technopark did not have suitable Grade A space for the company to begin its operations for the digital hub, space was provided to Nissan on the campus of Infosys Limited as a stop-gap arrangement. But the registrations department refused to waive stamp duty and registration fee as promised by the government, citing that such exemptions cannot be granted to sub-leases.Nissan’s letter says that social and physical infrastructure in the capital city needs to be improved to attract and retain world-class talent that the company requires. “These issues are critical in nature and are creating challenges in attracting and retaining the talent from across India, including Keralites settled outside the state,” the letter laments.The company cites air connectivity as a major concern. Company employees and their vendor partners are finding it difficult to travel between Thiruvananthapuram and other offices because of limited or no direct flights to major cities like Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. In addition, the extremely high fares when compared to even other airports in the state have a direct impact on the retention of company staff, the letter says.The company has informed the state government that even the lone connection to its global headquarters in Tokyo that was via Singapore has been lost after SilkAir stopped its service from Thiruvananthapuram airport. The connectivity issue will seriously affect the company’s future as a lot of senior-level executives are reconsidering their plans to visit the hub. With SilkAir backing out, there is no business class connectivity between Singapore and Thiruvananthapuram.The company also reminded the government that it had considered Chennai to set up the hub and decided to choose Thiruvananthapuram on the basis of government assurances to the set of requirements it had submitted prior to signing the MoU. “While we appreciate the government in inviting us to set up our hub in Trivandrum, unfortunately, the conditions mostly remain unfulfilled. In some cases, as we have detailed, the conditions have deteriorated, as we are facing difficulties in sustaining our operations,” the letter points out.Officer on special duty to the chief minister and secretary (electronics and IT) M Sivasankar said that the matter has been taken up by the company with the chief secretary and is being addressed at the level of the chief secretary. An email query to Nissan Motor Corporation’s chief digital officer regarding the response from the government towards the concerns raised by the company remained unanswered.