Kitex Garments has decided to drop its ₹3,500-crore investment project declared during Ascend Kerala Investment Summit in January 2020 because of continuous surprise inspections by bureaucrats from various departments, said group chairman Sabu Jacob. The projects included an apparel park employing 20,000 and three industrial parks at Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.

“As per the agreement signed with Kerala Government, further actions were taken. Land was acquired for the apparel park and the detailed project report was ready. Without pandemic affecting the work, our target was to finish the project by 2025,” Jacob was reported as saying by a top Indian English-language daily.

He said it is difficult to continue operating even in existing industrial units within Kerala.

During the past 30 days, officials conducted surprise inspections 11 times in its premises, he said.

Forty to fifty officials arrive and storm into each floor of the buildings and question workers, note down their name, address and phone numbers, spending three or four hours questioning 300-400 people without offering any reason, Jacob said in a statement.

In the meantime, the apparels and accessories manufacturer reported a 49.3 per cent decline in net profit of ₹9.73 crore in March 2021 quarter compared to a net profit of ₹19.22 crore in the same quarter last year.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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