Kochi: "Kitex is not abandoning the state of Kerala, it is being forced to quit," Chairman of Kerala-based Kitex group Sabu M Jacob said on Friday.
"Never expected to arrive at a situation where we'll have to leave Kerala. But it is difficult to maintain business in the state in this hostile environment. My father dreamt of employing thousands of people in Kerala. We are being forced to take this tough decision,"he added.
He was at the Cochin International Airport leaving for Hyderabad on a special jet sent by the Telangana government to discuss his new investment plans with them.
Jacob, who announced withdrawal of his group's Rs 3,500 investment project in Kerala last week alleging harassment by state government officials, said he was invited by the Telangana government after his group had a discussion with them "at different levels" including the state Industries Minister K T Rama Rao and senior government officials.
Asked about his investment plans, Jacob said, "this is something like a marriage (proposal) and we cannot take a decision tomorrow".
"But we will go (there) and see because there are other offers also from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh", he said.
Responding to a query whether he was planning to invest Rs 3,500 crore that was withdrawn from Kerala, Jacob said, "It is a different plan.That I cannot reveal it right now".
Kitex Garments Ltd had said it has decided to withdraw from the project signed during the "Ascend Global Investors Meet" organised by the state government here in January 2020, alleging that it was difficult for the company to run the existing industrial units in the state.
The industrialist had alleged that various units of Kitex were raided 10 times by officials from various departments during the past one month.
He had alleged that officials comprising 40-50 in numbers, entered the factory units, carried out searches, prevented workers, including women employees, from doing their job, grilled them and harassed them.
Continuing his criticism, Jacob reiterated that the non-business friendly atmosphere still prevails in the state.
Attacking the government, he alleged that Kerala industries minister P Rajeev sought to justify the actions of the officials who had carried out frequent inspections at his industry units, instead of addressing the issues he had raised.
Meanwhile, some Congress MLAs from Ernakulam district have written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking action against Kitex for allegedly not addressing the issue of pollution at its unit in Kizhakkambalam here.
The government had said that the officials' action against the Kitex were also on the basis of the complaint from opposition MLAs.
(With PTI inputs.)
