Europe-based companies, which Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had quoted as expressing interest in investing in the state during his foreign trips in 2022, are yet to make any commitments or are still considering possibilities, show the reply received by Onmanorama and available public records.

In response to Onmanorama's article on the industries department having no information on MoUs being signed during the CM's foreign visits, Pinarayi Vijayan had stated at the Manorama News Conclave held in Kochi recently that the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) was not the right agency to answer such questions. He, however, did not present a list of investments made in Kerala or MoUs signed as part of his foreign trips.

Onmanorama had first sought the information from the industries department, which then forwarded the query to the KSIDC (Onmanorama did not seek the information from KSIDC directly). It is considered as the premier agency of the government for industrial and investment promotion in Kerala and acts as the nodal agency for foreign and domestic investments in the state, according to the KSIDC website. K-SWIFT, the single window interface for fast and transparent clearance also functions under KSIDC.

In less than a decade, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has toured over 25 countries, leading delegations of officials from various departments with an objective to promote investments in the state. In October 2022, Pinarayi Vijayan led a delegation to Finland, Norway and the UK to seek investments. As per the order issued by the General Administration (Political) department, the delegation included then principal secretaries of industries department -- Suman Billa and Muhammad Hanish -- underlining the importance of the industries department in facilitating and proceeding with MoUs which may have been signed during these visits. The industries department, however, said in response to Onmanorama's RTI query that it has no information.

The official statements issued by the office of the Chief Minister in 2022 also said that a nodal officer of the industries department would handhold investments by companies especially one Norwegian firm Orkla. Finland-based Warstila, Norway-based Hydrogen Pro, Cambi, Corvus Energy, Orkla, TOMRA and UK-based Hinduja group were a few companies named by Pinarayi Vijayan saying that company officials had expressed interest in investing in Kerala, according to the official statements and Assembly records between 2022 and 2024. Onmanorama sent e-mail queries on progress of investments in Kerala to each of these companies.

Mathilde Hellenes, TOMRA’s vice-president of public relations, told Onmanorama via e-mail that no commitment has been made on investments. "TOMRA has met with the state government of Kerala in various forums, both in Norway and India. We are keenly observing developments in the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) space in India, and believe India has the potential to take a leading role when it comes to the circular economy shift for plastic waste in the Asian region. No commitment has been made on investments, but TOMRA is actively considering entry into the Indian DRS market," said Hellenes.

TOMRA, however, doesn't make any specific reference to Kerala regarding its plans for investment.

The company specialises in advanced waste recycling, and food processing by employing sensor-based sorting and grading technology.

Company documents and statements of Warstila, which focuses on renewable energy, show that its presence in India is related to an operation and maintenance agreement with an Indian energy company for a power plant in Bawal, Haryana. Another company Cambi, mentioned by Pinarayi Vijayan, has bagged a contract to deliver India's first thermal hydrolysis process system in Mumbai. However, the company records do not show any investments in Kerala. Another firm mentioned by the CM, HydrogenPro, which delivers green hydrogen technology solutions, has presence in the USA, Europe and East Asia. The latest annual report of the company shows that the energy transition and development of Hydrogen value chain is emerging in India and the Middle East and HydrogenPro is actively pursuing projects in these areas. But, no investment plans for any particular state has been mentioned in the report.

Another company, headquartered in Norway, had completed acquisition of a Kerala-based firm in 2021, a year before the CM held discussions with this company and since then there is no information on the company starting an initiative in Kerala.

In February 2023, Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly that many MoUs were signed following the visits to Norway, Finland and the UK. However, neither the industries department nor the KSIDC has any information on these MoUs or current status of investments.

At the Manorama News conclave, Pinarayi Vijayan spoke about seeking information  from right forums. Records show that numerous queries in the Assembly regarding foreign trips of the Chief Minister either remained unanswered or were given a standard reply 'information being collected'. Earlier GAD (political) had replied in response to RTI queries that the role and responsibility of GAD in connection with foreign visits of the Chief Minister and ministers are limited to issuance of journey sanction and that all other formalities like accommodation, logistics arrangements are dealt with office of the ministers or departments concerned. Onmanorama is yet to receive a reply from the office of the Chief Minister regarding the MoUs signed following his visit to the foreign countries.

The tenure of the present government ends in May 2026 and it has not released till now the current status of MoUs signed and investments materialised in the state following the CM's foreign tours.

Onmanorama has sent queries to seven other Europe-based companies, which had found mention in the CM's statements. We are awaiting replies from the companies and the article will be updated once the response is received.