Invest Kerala helpdesk hits milestone of handling 25,000 queries

The Industries department’s Invest Kerala helpdesk, set up to assist entrepreneurs in starting new businesses as well as to address their grievances, has hit a milestone of having handled 25,000 queries from aspiring entrepreneurs.

Since it became fully active in 2021, the helpdesk has been receiving a steady stream of calls, according to officials at the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), which manages it.

The services through the helpdesk is one of the initiatives that the State government is highlighting in the Union Commerce Ministry’s Ease of Doing Business index, in which Kerala achieved top position this year.

Although it was initially set up for the facilitation of the requests for various clearances required to set up and run enterprises through the Kerala Single Window Interface for Fast and Transparent Clearance (K-SWIFT), the Industries department’s grievance redressal and centralised inspection system-related support services were also added to it.

“Mainly the helpdesk is meant to handle three things - provide information and necessary guidance on queries related to availability of land and built up space to start new businesses, information on credit facilities for industrial units, including various loan schemes and funding options, and facilitation for various licences and clearances required to set up a new business.

In the grievance redressal system, queries which can be handled at our level are addressed immediately, while those requiring secretary or ministerial level interventions are escalated,” said a KSIDC official.

Local level issues faced by various enterprises as well as problems related to export or transport of materials to other States also come through the redressal mechanism.

The help desk officials also reach out to the entrepreneurs using its database to get feedback on the various procedures and to initiate procedural and policy changes.

The helpdesk (available at the toll-free number 1800-890-1030) functions from 8 a.

m.

to 8 p.

m.

and gets an average of 25 calls per day.

.