The Hindu 13.09.2010
Master plan drafted for Malabar development: MP
Staff Reporter
| Says Centre will help implement the proposed projects |
Ship-building yard at Chaliyam among the works
Coast Guard Station likely in Kozhikode
Kozhikode: M.K. Raghavan, MP, has said that a master plan has been drafted to execute large-scale development projects in Malabar with the help of the Union government.
In a press release here on Sunday, the MP said the Centre had given permission to start a naval ship-building yard at Chaliyam. The advanced warship designing centre would be set up under the guidance of the Mazagon Dock ship-building unit in Mumbai. The State government had earmarked 17 hectares of land for the yard.
Of the Rs.600 crore set apart for the project, Rs.100 crore had been allocated for preliminary works. A committee of experts from the Defence Ministry and the Mazagon Dock would visit Chaliyam next week in connection with the handing over of the land.
He said the Union government had given a positive response to the suggestion to set up a Coast Guard station in Kozhikode. The station would require 20 hectares of land. Defence Minister A.K. Antony had promised that the station could be set up if the State government provided at least 12 hectares of land.
He said the Union Ministry of Food Processing had earmarked Rs.50 crore to set up a mega food park in the Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency. The park would create employment and investment opportunities in Kozhikode. The project would be inaugurated after the local body elections.
The MP said he was pressuring the State government to locate the Indian Institute of Mass Communication centre allotted to Kerala in Kozhikode. The centre could be set up on 3 hectares of land available near Ramanattukara. He said the issue of cancellation of Air India Express flights was immediately solved with the intervention of Defence Minister A.K. Antony and External Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.
