Thiruvananthapuram: In 2021, as Kerala government was championing its ambition to turn the southern state into a top investment hub, one of the state’s largest employers accused the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) of driving businesses away. Kitex Garments’ managing director Sabu M. Jacob alleged the state was “hounding” enterprises through relentless factory inspections. Kerala would soon become a “graveyard of industries,” he declared and announced plans to shift Rs 3,500 crore worth of investments to Telangana.
Jacob said at the time that Kitex had been “forced to move out of the state”.
Cut to now, Kerala is at the top of the Ease of Doing Business rankings, and hosted a major investors’ summit earlier this year. Against this backdrop, a high-profile visit by Andhra Pradesh Minister for Handlooms and Textiles S. Savitha to Kitex’s Kochi headquarters has reignited the long-running debate over the firm’s expansion outside Kerala.
Talking to ThePrint, Sabu said talks with the Andhra Pradesh government are in the initial phase, and that he would take a call on any fresh investment in the state after meeting CM Chandrababu Naidu.
His remarks came a day after Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeev said Sabu’s remarks should be seen in a political light, since he is a businessman-turned-politician. Those talking about ease of doing business in Kerala will have to answer to the state’s youth at a time when many firms are coming to invest in Kerala, the minister told the media Sunday.
Sabu is also the chief of the corporate-backed Twenty 20 party, which is in power in four local bodies in the state’s Ernakulam district.
While he denied any personal friction with the Kerala government, Sabu did express frustration at what he saw as political posturing by the state leadership. “By birth, they have only seen to ruin others’ hard work. Can a businessman not be a politician? I haven’t talked about politics or my party regarding this. The party will go in that line.”
His renewed criticism of the state also comes amid the ruling LDF’s aggressive promotion of Kerala as an investment destination ahead of Assembly polls next year.
The state organised a two-day Invest Kerala Global Summit in Kochi this February, which drew Expressions of Interest (EoIs) worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore from 374 companies. The government also conducted over 40 sector-specific conclaves in the run-up to the summit.
Kerala-based political analyst Joseph C. Mathew told ThePrint, “If Sabu hadn’t started the political party, he would not have been in this situation. However, now both the parties also act like they don’t need each other.”
Also Read: Tharoor-Congress feud sparks buzz in his Thiruvananthapuram constituency, unease in party unit
Kitex’s plans & Twenty 20 party
Founded by M.C. Jacob in 1968 in Ernakulam district’s Kizhakkambalam, Anna-Kitex Group, popularly known as Kitex, primarily manufactures garments and aluminium products.
According to one report by Economic Times Markets, Kitex saw a steady increase in its revenue in the last three years, with total revenue in FY 2025 being Rs 1,001.35 crore, up from Rs 631.17 crore the previous financial year. In FY 2025, the company with a market cap of Rs 5,608.94 crore booked a profit after tax of Rs 138.73 crore—marking a growth of 146.28 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.
Kitex is also one of the largest private-sector employers in Kerala, led by a Malayalee, alongside the Muthoot Group (more than 40,000 employees) and Malabar Group (25,000 employees). Other large employers include US-based tech giant UST Global, which has its India headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the company’s largest development centre, and together with its Kochi campus, employs over 10,000 people in Kerala.
While Kitex is indeed expanding in Telangana, its headquarters remains in Kochi, and it continues operations in Kerala. Sabu said the firm plans to set up two units in Telangana, one in Warangal and the other in Hyderabad. The Warangal unit began operations in April, and the Hyderabad unit is expected to open in December 2026. “By September–December, we expect to have about 12,000–14,000 employees in Warangal. In total, these two units will employ around 50,000 people,” he said. In Kerala, Sabu claimed the firm employs about 16,000 workers, of which the majority consists of interstate migrants.
An official from Kerala’s Directorate Of Industries & Commerce told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that despite making allegations, the firm still continues to operate in the state. “They have been saying that they would leave. But they are still here, aren’t they?”
Founded in 1992, Kitex Group launched its CSR wing Twenty 20 in 2013 with the aim of transforming Kizhakkambalam—a village on the outskirts of Kochi where the company is headquartered—into a model village. It later transformed itself into a political party and contested the 2015 Kerala local body polls, winning control of Kizhakkambalam panchayat.
It then expanded to four local bodies in Ernakulam district in the 2020 local body polls.
Though the party doesn’t propagate a particular political ideology, it engages with the public through welfare initiatives such as subsidised supermarkets, improved water and electricity supply, among others. In the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections, Twenty 20 contested eight constituencies in Ernakulam district, though unsuccessfully.
Its candidate in Kunnathunad garnered a little more than 42,000 votes, finishing third behind the CPI(M)’s winning candidate P.V. Sreenijin and Congress’s V.P. Sajendran.
What Kerala minister said
During his interaction with the media Sunday, minister Rajeev had said many entrepreneurs, including Bharat Biotech’s Krishna Ella, have openly praised Kerala as an investor-friendly state. He added that the government is making dedicated efforts to create opportunities that will encourage the youth to remain and thrive in Kerala.
“You should consider that the businessman is also the president of a political party. If you want to understand the opinion of businessmen, you should speak to businessmen. Since he is also a politician, he naturally has political interests too,” he said, referring to Sabu.
He also highlighted that Kerala’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows more than doubled over the past year, an achievement he argued would not be possible if the state were not seen as investor-friendly.
According to data from DPIIT, Kerala’s FDI surged to Rs 3,300 crore in the previous fiscal year, up from Rs 1,633.42 crore the year before. The state ranked ninth in FDI inflows nationally, with Maharashtra retaining the top spot with Rs 12,000 crore.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Nilambur bypoll: How Anvar, once Kerala’s richest MLA, is adding twist to crucial LDF-UDF contest
