About Confederation of Indian Industry (Thiruvananthapuram Zone) in Kowdiar,Golf Links, Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala is a small state in the south west corner of India. Its total area is 38,863 sq. km which is only 1.20% of the total of India. Kerala attracted the notice of people in other parts of India even from time immemorial.

Kerala has 31,838,619 people according to the 2001 census, which is nearly 3.44 per cent of the country's population. Her population density is 819 persons per sq.km., the third in India and clocks at thrice the national average. The sex-ratio recorded in this census is 1058 females per 1000 males.

Kerala stands in the forefront of Indian states in the matter of literacy and education. According to the census of 1991 the rate of literacy in Kerala is 94.59 per cent. This literacy rate is more than double that of the country. It is significant that Kerala is almost on a par with the most advanced countries of the world in point of literacy.

Major plantations in kerala are tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom and other spices.
Cashew, coconut, areca nut, cassava, banana, rice, ginger, pepper, sugarcane, and vegetables of different varieties are also grown. The lowland or the coastal area, which is made up of the river deltas, backwaters, and the shore of the Arabian Sea, is essentially a land of coconut and rice. Fisheries and Coir industry constitute the major industries of this area.

The pressure on land in Kerala is the highest in India and the state's economy continues to be dominantly agrarian. The annual per capita income in state at current prices has risen to Rs. 19,461 in the year 1999-2000 from RS 5,065 in 1992-93. Coir: Backwaters and the inland waterways nourishes the coir industry, which is the oldest traditional cottage industry in the state.

Agriculture dominates the Keralite economy. However, Kerala's Human Development Index and standard of living statistics are the best in India. Indeed, in select development indices, Kerala rivals many developed countries. This seeming paradox — low GDP and productivity figures juxtaposed with relatively high development figures — is often dubbed the "Kerala Phenomenon" or the "Kerala Model" of development by economists, political scientists, and sociologists. This phenomenon arises mainly from Kerala's unusually strong service sector.

Kerala's economy can be best described as a democratic socialist welfare economy. However, Kerala's emphasis on equitable distribution of resources has resulted in slow economic progress compared to neighboring states. Relatively few major corporations and manufacturing plants are headquartered in Kerala. Remittances from Keralites working abroad, mainly in the Middle East, make up over 20% of State Domestic Product (SDP). Because of this Kerala Economy is sometimes called as "Money Order Economy".