Inside CSEZ: The Special Economic Zone That Kickstarted Kakkanad
CSEZ predates Infopark by two decades and still runs jewellery, electronics and garment exports from Kakkanad. Here is how Kochi's original special economic zone actually works, and how it differs from its IT neighbour.
Ask most people who work in Kakkanad what CSEZ stands for and you will get a blank look, even from people who drive past its gates every day. Everyone knows Infopark, the glass-and-lawns campus that turned this stretch of Ernakulam into Kochi's IT commuting hub. Far fewer know that Kakkanad's export economy did not start with Infopark at all. It started two decades earlier, on a plot of land you can still walk into today, called the Cochin Special Economic Zone.
Is CSEZ the same thing as Infopark?
No, and mixing the two up is the single most common confusion about Kakkanad's business district. They sit only a few kilometres apart, both host export-oriented companies, and both fall under government ownership, but they are separate zones with separate histories and separate rules.
| CSEZ | Infopark Kochi | |
|---|---|---|
| Established | 1984 (as an export processing zone), converted to a Special Economic Zone in 2000 | 18 July 2004 |
| Run by | Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Government of Kerala |
| Area | 103 acres (41.7 ha) | 323 acres across two phases |
| Sectors | IT/ITES, electronics hardware, engineering, gem and jewellery, garments, rubber and plastics, food processing | Overwhelmingly IT and IT-enabled services |
How a 1984 export zone ended up in Kakkanad
CSEZ predates almost everything else that now defines Kakkanad's skyline. It was set up in 1984 as a multi-product export processing zone, back when Kakkanad was still a quiet edge of Ernakulam rather than the traffic-choked office corridor it is now, and was converted into a full Special Economic Zone in 2000 once India's SEZ policy took shape. The location was not an accident: it sits close to both Cochin International Airport and the Port of Cochin, which is exactly the combination an export-focused zone needs for getting goods in and finished products out quickly.
Administratively, CSEZ has run under a separate body since 2009. The CSEZ Authority was constituted under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, by a notification issued on 27 February 2009, and became operational on 1 April 2009, headed by a Development Commissioner reporting to the central Ministry of Commerce and Industry. That is a different chain of command entirely from Infopark, which answers to the Kerala state government and, ultimately, the Chief Minister's office as chairman.
What is actually inside the zone today?
Unlike Infopark's almost entirely IT identity, CSEZ was built as a multi-product zone and still functions that way. According to the Kerala tourism department, the zone currently has more than 80 working units across a genuinely mixed set of industries (other undated counts put the figure closer to 160, so treat any single number as approximate):
- Electronics hardware and engineering goods
- Gem and jewellery processing and export
- IT and IT-enabled services
- Agro and food processing
- Textiles, garments, plastic and rubber products
That range is a large part of why CSEZ's export numbers have historically outpaced what its modest size would suggest: according to the same Kerala tourism department source, the zone's exports crossed Rs 1,000 crore as far back as 2007. The zone also runs its own captive infrastructure rather than depending on the city grid for everything: a 25 MVA power substation, a common effluent treatment plant handling a million litres a day, and a water treatment facility rated for 1.5 million litres a day.
Can any company just set up inside CSEZ?
Not quite. A company has to apply through the Development Commissioner's office and meet the eligibility rules laid down under the SEZ Act, 2005 and the accompanying SEZ Rules, which is a more formal, centrally-regulated process than leasing space in a state IT park. The zone publishes its application procedure and forms directly rather than through a broker, which is worth knowing if you ever hear a "consultant" offering to fast-track a CSEZ unit for a fee.
Our take
CSEZ is the zone that made Kakkanad worth building an IT park next to in the first place, and it has been almost entirely eclipsed by the neighbour it made possible. Drive past both gates today and Infopark looks like the future and CSEZ looks like a 1980s industrial estate that time forgot, which is a little unfair to a zone that is still exporting jewellery, electronics and garments long after most people assumed Kakkanad was IT-only. If Kochi's business district keeps expanding the way the GCC push into Infopark and the upcoming metro line to Infopark both suggest it will, CSEZ deserves to be part of that story rather than a footnote to it. Businesses looking to actually locate here can start with our Business Directory for what is already operating nearby.
Written By
Haila Kochi Editorial Team
Part of the Haila Kochi editorial team, covering the food, business, lifestyle, and people that make Kochi what it is.
