Kochi, Feb 17 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Monday accused the Kerala government of inflating industrial growth figures and manipulating data.

Addressing the media here, Satheesan dismissed the claim that Kerala ranks first in the Ease of Doing Business list, stating that the World Bank discontinued the index in 2021 due to data manipulation concerns.

The Congress leader's statement followed the political storm triggered by party MP Shashi Tharoor's article in an English daily, where he praised Kerala's entrepreneurial growth under the LDF government. While Congress questioned the basis of his claims, the CPI(M) welcomed them.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday attacked the opposition, stating that Tharoor's article had debunked the false propaganda spread by the Congress-led UDF against Kerala.

Responding to this, Satheesn claimed that the GST registrations for new enterprises have not increased. "If there are 3 lakh new entrepreneurs as claimed, there should be at least 1.5 lakh new GST registrations, but the figures show only 30,000 new registrations," he said.

In reply to a query, Satheesan stated that his remarks were directed at the government for manipulating figures to create a narrative of industrial growth in the state, not Tharoor.

"Tharoor has already stated that he is willing to correct any inaccuracies in the figures, and we will brief him on the actual situation," he said.

The LoP added that while Tharoor had previously supported the Silver Line project, they had persuaded him by presenting the current realities and figures, which he later shared on his Facebook page.

The LDF government has been presenting manipulated data, particularly in its latest claim of a 254 per cent growth in the state's startup ecosystem. The comparison was made between the last three years of the first Pinarayi government (2019-21) and the first three years of the second Pinarayi government. However, this assessment is flawed, as it contrasts figures from the pandemic period, a time when nobody started enterprises, Satheesan alleged.

Furthermore, while Kerala claims an ecosystem value of Rs 1.7 billion USD (Rs 170 crore), Karnataka saw a growth of Rs 1,590 crore, Delhi-Rs 1,130 crore, and Telangana-Rs 830 crore during the same period, he stated.

Satheesan also claimed that the rise in the number of IT companies primarily took place during the Congress-led UDF regime.

"In 2012-13, there were only 285 IT companies, which increased to 390 by 2015-16, marking a 37 per cent growth. In contrast, the number of IT companies stood at 450 in 2019-20 and has risen to just 490 now, reflecting a mere 8 per cent growth," he said.

As per the figures of Kerala Single Window Interface for Fast and Transparent Clearance (K-SWIFT), the government granted permission only to 64,528 MSMEs in the state from January 2022 to January 2025, he stated.

He further alleged that if three lakh new enterprises had actually been established in the state, there should have been an additional investment of Rs 30,000 crore. However, Kerala’s contribution to the national GDP has remained stagnant at 3.8 per cent since 2022.

Satheesan also pointed out that Kerala lags behind other South Indian states in GDP contribution.

He accused the Left of obstructing various development projects, including the private universities, Vizhinjam Port and Kochi Metro and taking credit for UDF's projects.

The Congress leader further said that the opposition would provide full support to make Kerala a completely industrially friendly state. PTI ARM ARM KH

Data manipulation allegations challenge official industrial growth claims, urging verification of startup and GST registration figures. Allegations state the Kerala government inflated industrial and startup growth figures by comparing pandemic years with later periods, producing a misleading increase; claimed numbers of new entrepreneurs lack corroboration from GST registrations and K SWIFT MSME approvals for January 2022-January 2025, while ecosystem valuation and investment claims appear inconsistent with relative GDP contribution and comparator states.