Kerala industries unstressed, farmers bear brunt

Seafood exports from the state bring in a large proportion of Kerala’s revenue. It showed no adverse impact. If anything, exports grew by 20 per cent in volume terms and 25 per cent in value during the first quarter of 2017-18 compared to the first quarter in the previous year. And tourism keeps the Kerala economy flying. “Figures from the first quarter speak the story and it has done well,” A Jayathilak, Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority, said, adding that there was no impact of demonetisation on this sector. He said seafood exports from the country stood at 251,000 tonnes valued at Rs 9,066 crore ($1.42 billion) in the first quarter of the current fiscal, up from 201,000 tonnes worth $1.17 billion during the previous quarter of 2015-16.

The I-T industry also evaded any adverse impact, largely because most transactions in the sector were carried out through the banking channels. “On the contrary, demonetisation served to reinforce the industry’s resolve to rigorously follow governance and compliance norms. 

Since the IT industry, from its formative stages, was not in the clutches of the tax-men, it developed as a legitimate above-board industry,” said VK Mathews, a member of Nasscom and head of IBS Software Services. Mathews said demonetisation was a bold move. 

“It is indeed daring, considering its scope and implication over such a large population, where corruption and non-compliance are part of the nation’s culture -- India is the most corrupt nation in Asia and among the worst in the world, according to the recent Forbes report,” he added. 

The first CEO of Technopark and former Kerala State Planning Board member, G Vijayaraghavan said that he had been a supporter of the demonetisation programme from the very beginning and continues to support it.