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Kerala plans to create five lakh jobs in the information technology (IT) sector by 2031, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday. The state also aims to capture 10 percent of India’s IT market share and increase the number of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) to 120.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the ReCode Kerala 2025 IT Seminar, organised by the Department of Electronics and IT as part of the government’s Vision 2031 initiative.
During the event, the Chief Minister also released the draft Vision Document for the Information Technology, Electronics, Semiconductor, and Emerging Technology sectors. Industries Minister P Rajeeve received the document on behalf of the department.
CM Vijayan said that Kerala needs to expand its IT infrastructure to three crore square feet. Since the state has limited land available, the government is encouraging private investment through a land-pooling model to help build new facilities.
He added that the government will develop data centres, cloud infrastructure sites, and satellite IT parks. The state will also promote sustainable practices in both energy use and construction.
“Our goal is to train ten lakh skilled youth, create five lakh high-quality jobs, and provide employment for two lakh people in Global Capability Centres," the Chief Minister said.
He added that the government is planning to create new bodies such as the Kerala Future Technology Mission, the Kerala Semiconductor Mission, and the Kerala AI Mission to promote innovation and generate jobs. Research in semiconductors will be given special attention so that Kerala can benefit from new developments in this field, he said.
“The Maker Village in Kochi, now the country’s largest hardware incubator, will soon expand under the Maker Village 2.0 project. The new phase will include regional incubation and research centres in Wayanad, Kannur, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kottayam," the Chief Minister said.
CM Vijayan also said that Kerala aims to become a global centre for Artificial Intelligence. He urged experts and officials to discuss how technology and AI can make government services more effective and citizen-friendly.
Kerala State, which once led the country in land reform and education, is now extending that vision to other sectors as well, Vijayan said. He pointed out that the country’s first Technopark and its first electronics production company were both set up in Kerala. In the past decade, the state has also established India’s first Digital University and Digital Science Park, he said.
“In 2016, Kerala had around 300 startups. Today, that number has grown to 6,400," the Chief Minister said. “Kerala now has one of the most startup-friendly ecosystems in India. Between 2021 and 2023, the startup sector in the state grew by 254 percent. The country’s first Super Fab Lab was also established here," Vijayan said.
He added that over the past decade, startups have brought investments worth Rs 6,000 crore into Kerala. The government has approved Rs 50 crore as seed funding to support more than 900 early-stage startup ideas. Kerala’s IT exports are now close to Rs 1 lakh crore, the Chief Minister said.
Around 1.5 lakh people are currently employed across Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark. Since 2016, about 66,000 new jobs have been created in the IT sector. Kerala’s total IT exports, which stood at Rs 34,123 crore in 2016, have now increased by nearly Rs 90,000 crore, Vijayan added.
