Economy of Kochi

[Ron Sebin]

Kochi has today become the economic capital of Kochi. In terms of volume of trade Kochi is leading today, but Kochi has been slow to industrialize compared to the other South Indian cities. Kochi has been witnessing heavy investment over the past few years and is rejuvenating from its economic stagnation. Its GDP growth rate is posted to be 8.3% and it is one of the fastest growing second-tier metro cities in India.

Kochi is known to have a business economy and is has an emphasis on the service sector. Gold and textile retailing, seafood and spices exports, information technology, tourism, health services, banking, ship building and the fishing industry are the major business sectors. Trade and retail constitute the major activities of the economy. The major source of income in Kerala is the remittances from non-resident Indians. The Cochin Stock Exchange is also housed in Kochi.

Kochi is the most sought after city for IT and ITES companies. It is ranked second by NASSCOM as the most attractive city in India for IT based services. Its greatest advantage is the availability of cheap bandwidth through undersea cables and lower operational costs compared to the other cities in India. Infopark, Cochin Special Economic Zone and KINFRA Export Promotion Industrial Park are the other technology and industrial campuses which operate in the outskirts of the city.

As a result of all these developments there are a number of upcoming flats in Kochi . Builders are now more interested in the city which has also resulted in the rise of real estate prices.