Keltron Controls to manufacture defence equipment

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, DEC 12: Keltron Controls Division will soon begin manufacture of light-weight hi-tech equipment for use of defence personnel, said the Industry Minister, Mrs. Suseela Gopalan.

Inaugurating the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Physically Disabled set up by Keltron Component Complex in Aroor today, Mrs. Gopalan said the proposal for making defence equipment had received the green signal from the Defence Ministry. Transfer of technology knowhow was being chalked out and the Aroor plant was all ready to start production.

The Minister said the Government was also planning to float another bond to raise Rs. 200 crores to go ahead with the restructuring process of public sector units.

Keltron, in the midst of a restructuring process, was also planning to enter the high potential area of information technology and was going to take up hardware and software development at the Aroor plant, the Minister said.

Of the Rs. 180 crores accruing from the bonds floated earlier for rehabilitation of public sector enterprises, only a sum of Rs. 125 crores was available. Of this, Rs. 110 crores had been spent on Keltron alone, said the Minister.

She said that a new Swiss technology was being incorporated in the handloom sector to upgrade the traditional industry. Further, information technology was being put to use in various industries, she said.

The Minister said that Keltron was at a Rs. 200-crore loss when the present Government took charge. ``It is difficult to go ahead with old technology and hence the Government is finding new ventures to bring back its past glory,'' she said.

Mrs. Suseela Gopalan outlined a number of projects taken up by the Industry Department, of which a hi-tech park on the lines of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram will be a major project at Kalamassery here. A trade exhibition centre at Kalamassery along the lines of the International Trade Fair grounds in Delhi is another project.

She said the Government was planning to set up a fishery centre at Aroor with the help of MPEDA. The unit would provide employment to a number of women in the area as prawn peelers. Mrs. Gopalan said Neendakara and Aroor had been selected as two centres for setting up waste material processing projects.

The Government was in the process of strengthening the infrastructure facilities in the State, she said.

Mr. Ajayakumar, special secretary (Industries) and managing director of Keltron, welcomed the gathering. He said that the Centre for Rehabilitation was expected to record a turnover of Rs. 1 crore.

The technical knowhow from the Defence Research Development Organisation under an MoU provides for making equipment like knee locking artificial limbs, myo-electric hand and other higher end products.

Mrs. K.R. Gouri, MLA, who presided over the function, said that the Minister should personally ensure that Keltron Controls regained its past glory.

Mrs. C.S. Sujatha, president, Alappuzha District Panchayat, Mrs. Kanakam Krishna Pillai, president Aroor Grama Panchayat, Mr. T.P. Mukundan, managing director, KSHWPC, spoke on the occasion.

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