Our Bureau

Kochi , April 4

THE State Industries Minister, Mr V.K. Ibrahim Kunju, inaugurated the Women Apparel Park Ltd (WAPL) set up by the Industries Department at the nearby Kalamassery Industrial Estate.

The Rs 3-crore project will be completed in two phases, with the first phase costing about Rs 75 lakh.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that the State Government is ready to consider setting up an exclusive industrial estate for women in a bid to help encourage more women entrepreneurs.

He added that women were not coming forward to set up industrial units in the State and to encourage them to be more enterprising, the Industries Department has reserved space for women's enterprises at the Kinfra park at Kakkancherry.

The Department has also set aside Rs 50 lakh to help enterprises run by women under a programme called Women Industrial Assistance Programme.

The Department plans to provide extensive training to women in evolving industrial projects and putting them up.

If these steps produce encouraging results, the Government would be only too willing to set up an industrial estate solely for women, he added.

The Industries Director, Mr T.O. Sooraj, and Mr B. Prasanna Kumar, General Manager of the District Industries Centre, were among those present at the inauguration. As many as 10 units have taken up space at the 18,000 sq ft building which has been provided with imported modern high-tech machinery.

While each unit will have a separate Corporation number and electricity consumption meter, WAPL will charge a fee for the common facility provided.

The Apparel Park will also provide training for computer-aided design in cutting and designing with Gerber Technology from Germany. It will be a certificate course.

In the second phase of the development, a common production centre is planned to produce branded items. The venture will also help as a marketing avenue for other units in the Park.

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