Garment manufacturer Kitex Garments on Tuesday said it is withdrawing from a plan to invest Rs 3,500 crore in apparel parks in Kerala, attributing the decision to alleged ‘harassment’ by the state government.
The company, the largest private sector employer in the state, is known for winning and ruling the Kizhakkambalam panchayat for the last five years through its political arm ‘Twenty20’. Last year, Twenty20 won three more panchayats in its home district of Ernakulam apart from retaining Kizhakkambalam. It could not, however, make any gains in the recent Assembly elections.
Sabu M Jacob, CMD of Kitex group, said his company is withdrawing from an MoU with the Kerala government, signed at the ‘Ascend Global Investors Meet’ in Kochi in January 2020. The plan was to open an apparel park in Kochi and establish industry parks at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Palakkad.
“On Tuesday, it was the turn of the pollution control board. Each team has 40-50 officers and searches every nook and corner of the company. They grill employees for hours but do not reveal what violations they have found. The Kitex factory has been functioning here for the past 26 years and we have 11,000 employees,” Jacob said.