The political turmoil and industrial unrest haunting Kerala have hastened the exit of many industrial groups, both big and small, from the State. The latest to join the bandwagon of entrepreneurs leaving the State for good is Beta Group, owned by J Rajmohan Pillai, which is into the production of packaged food products like Nut King.
The year 2021 has seen the exit of more than a dozen major units from the State as the proprietors downed the shutters and left for the oil-rich West Asian countries.
The Beta Group hailing from the family of late K Janardhanan Pillai, labelled as India’s cashew king has shut down all its cashew processing factories numbering around 100 and is moving to little-known Guinea-Bissau, a West African country.
“We will set up Guinea-Bissau’s largest cashew processing and export unit which will provide jobs to at least 2,000 people in the near future itself.
“The agreement signed between Beta Group and the Guinea-Bissau Government mandates that the Group would invest $100 million over the next five years,” Dr Rajmohan Pillai, chairman, Beta Group, told The Pioneer over telephone from Bissau.
The Beta Group’s decision to shift its operation to the African country comes at a time when entrepreneurs are leaving the State en masse fearing the high handed attitude of trade union leaders who have become a law unto themselves.
Though Dr Pillai described the decision to shift Beta Group was in response to the irresistible invitation from the Guinea-Bissau Government led by Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nambam, corporate leaders in Kerala said on condition of anonymity that situation in God’s Own Country was not conducive for investment or expansion.
“When trade union leaders call the shots on issues like who should be included in the list of workers and who should be kept away, it is a signal to the entrepreneurs to move out,” said a senior corporate honcho.
The cashew processing units employing more than two lakh workers have gone bust following the resistance by trade unions in introducing automation systems. “There are no worthwhile profits from this sector. Since it is a labor-intensive industry, we were able to give jobs to thousands,” said Dr Pillai.
Cashew and coir industries, the main livelihood of lakhs in the southern district of Kerala have been shifted to other States because of the apathy of policymakers to change with the times.
The Vizhinjam trans-shipment container port near the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram has been held back as the Archdiocese of Latin Christians and fishermen have declared war against the project owned and executed by the Adani Group.
Leaders of the agitation charge that the livelihood of thousands of fishermen would be affected if the Port was allowed to come up at Vizhinjam. Though Dr Pillai was not willing to criticise the State Government, he pointed out that investors and entrepreneurs set up business units based on the industrial policies of the Government. “If you take stock of the number of industries that were set up in the State since 2016, the result would be disappointing. Other than a few start-up units, nobody is willing to invest in Kerala,” he said.
Nuno Gomes Nabiam, Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau, in his social media note has expressed his happiness to welcome old friend Rajmohan Pillai to the country which has 2.23 lakh hectares of cashew farms.
