Thiruvananthapuram, June 27 (IANS) A veteran Non-Resident Keralite who has spent nearly five decades in the UAE has urged Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan to make the proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod high-speed rail corridor the first major project to channel Kerala’s vast expatriate remittances into productive investments.

In a letter to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, K.V. Shamsudheen, Chairman of Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, said the government’s proposal to shift the Kerala diaspora from being merely remittance providers to long-term investors could begin with the ambitious railway project proposed under the leadership of Metro Man E. Sreedharan.

Drawing parallels with the successful financing model adopted for the Konkan Railway, Shamsudheen suggested that the state issue secured, redeemable, tax-free, non-convertible bonds to Non-Resident Keralites to mobilise funds for the project.

“I had the privilege of promoting Konkan Railway tax-free bonds among NRIs in the UAE. I witnessed first-hand the tremendous enthusiasm expatriates showed for nation-building projects. I believe Malayali expatriates will respond similarly if a credible investment opportunity is created for Kerala,” he said.

Shamsudheen noted that while Malayalis remit an estimated Rs 2.3-2.5 lakh crore to Kerala annually — nearly one-fifth of India’s total inward remittances — over Rs 3 lakh crore of Non-Resident External (NRE) deposits remain parked in banks in Kerala, earning modest returns instead of being deployed for productive investments.

“If even a fraction of these savings is channelled into infrastructure, industries and employment-generating projects, Kerala can fundamentally transform its economy,” he said.

He argued that Kerala’s greatest challenge was not a shortage of capital but the absence of avenues to convert household savings into long-term investments.

According to him, a substantial portion of expatriate wealth continues to flow into non-productive assets such as gold and real estate rather than sectors capable of creating jobs and accelerating economic growth.

Shamsudheen said the proposed investment model aligns closely with the policy direction announced by Satheesan in his Budget, where the Chief Minister observed that while Kerala’s diaspora had long been the backbone of the state’s economy through remittances, the next phase should focus on converting those remittances into investments.

Besides the high-speed railway, he urged the government to explore similar bond-based financing for other major infrastructure projects, saying Kerala possessed enormous untapped financial and human resources waiting to be productively harnessed.

“Kerala is not merely a land of opportunities, it is a land of untapped resources. What is required is an investor-friendly ecosystem capable of inspiring confidence among the global Malayali community,” he said.

–IANS

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