Kerala's Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, Wants 15,000 Startups by 2026

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

24 Feb 2025 — 2 min read

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Aims for 15,000 Startups by 2026

According to a news agency, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has outlined a bold strategy for the state's startup ecosystem, aiming to generate 1 lakh jobs through 15,000 new businesses by 2026. In his opening remarks at the Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) in Kochi, he stated that the state wants to launch 15,000 new businesses and generate one lakh jobs by 2026.

Kerala has shown tremendous progress, according to Vijayan, with 6,200 businesses established in the previous eight years, drawing INR 5,800 Cr in investments and generating 62,000 jobs. The plan expands upon Kerala's burgeoning entrepreneurial scene. The government allotted INR 90.52 Cr for the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in the February 2024 state budget, of which INR 20 Cr was set aside for a Technology Innovation Zone in Kochi and other funds for young entrepreneurship initiatives.

State Showing Great interest in Startup Ecosystem

The state has always demonstrated its dedication to the development of startups. In October 2024, KSUM, which was founded as the startup nodal agency, invested INR 15 Cr in Transition VC, which focuses on the energy transition. In order to help local retail enterprises compete with e-commerce platforms, it intends to increase their use of technology and current management strategies. KSUM will also establish work pods aimed at businesses from other states.

Kerala is among the top performers, along with Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, in DPIIT's States' Startup Ranking 2022, demonstrating the national recognition of Kerala's efforts. By recently putting up a comprehensive AVGC-XR program that seeks to generate 50,000 jobs by 2029, the state is also broadening its focus. Over 4,000 firms were launched in Kerala between 2016 and 2021, bringing in $551 million in venture capital investments through 110 funding transactions, according to media statistics.

Financial Backing to Startups

According to Vijayan, the government is adamant that a lack of funding shouldn't prevent a creative and amazing idea from becoming a commercial success. Startups can get interest-free loans from KSUM. A corpus of INR 750 crore would be made available for venture finance. It is also expected that financial institutions like Kerala Bank, KSIDC, KFC, and KSFE will provide venture capital totalling INR 250 crore.

The administration is committed to carrying out its plans to support the state's young entrepreneurs, according to Industries Minister P. Rajeev. According to Rajeev, the Kerala government is concentrating on the semiconductor industry and is in discussions with Belgian businesses. The state's nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation operations was established in 2006 and is called KSUM.