Kerala aims for 10% of India’s IT market, 5 lakh jobs by 2031: Pinarayi Vijayan
He was speaking at the inauguration of ReCode Kerala 2025, an IT seminar organised by the Department of Electronics and IT
He was speaking at the inauguration of ReCode Kerala 2025, an IT seminar organised by the Department of Electronics and IT
He was speaking at the inauguration of ReCode Kerala 2025, an IT seminar organised by the Department of Electronics and IT
Kochi: Kerala aims to create five lakh jobs in the information technology sector by 2031 and capture 10 per cent of India’s IT market share, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday. The state also plans to increase the number of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) to 120 as part of its long-term digital growth strategy.
He was speaking at the inauguration of ReCode Kerala 2025, an IT seminar organised by the Department of Electronics and IT under the Vision 2031 initiative. The Chief Minister also released the draft Vision Document for the Information Technology, Electronics, Semiconductor and Emerging Technology sectors, which was received by Industries Minister P Rajeeve.
The Minister said that Kerala’s IT infrastructure would be expanded to three crore square feet through a land-pooling model to attract private investment, given the state’s limited land availability. The government will also develop data centres, cloud infrastructure and satellite IT parks, adopting sustainable practices in construction and energy use.
“Our goal is to train ten lakh youth, create five lakh quality jobs and ensure employment for two lakh people in GCCs,” he said. The government is also considering establishing dedicated bodies, such as the Kerala Future Technology Mission, Kerala Semiconductor Mission, and Kerala AI Mission, to drive innovation and employment.
Research in semiconductors will be a priority, and the Maker Village in Kochi, India’s largest hardware incubator, will be expanded under the Maker Village 2.0 project with new regional incubation and research centres in Wayanad, Kannur, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kottayam.
The Chief Minister said Kerala also aims to become a global hub for Artificial Intelligence and called for exploring how technology and AI can enhance the efficiency of government services. “Kerala, which once set benchmarks in land reform and education, is now extending that vision to technology,” he said.
Highlighting the state’s digital progress, Vijayan noted that Kerala established India’s first Technopark, first electronics production company, Digital University and Digital Science Park. “In 2016, Kerala had around 300 startups; today, that number has grown to 6,400,” he said, adding that the startup ecosystem grew by 254 per cent between 2021 and 2023.
Over the past decade, startups have brought ₹6,000 crore in investments to the state, and the government has sanctioned ₹50 crore as seed funding for over 900 early-stage ventures. Kerala’s IT exports, which were ₹34,123 crore in 2016, are now nearing ₹1 lakh crore, with around 1.5 lakh people employed across Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)