The Kerala budget for the 2018-19 fiscal saw the largest ever allocation of Rs 80 crore being set aside for various initiatives for the state’s diaspora. State finance minister Thomas Issac while presenting his third budget in the Kerala Assembly on Friday said the allocation of Rs 80 crore for various projects and programmes for the Kerala diaspora is the largest ever such allocation. Likewise Rs 7 crore will be used to set up a real-time data base of the Kerala diaspora,” said Issac. “Rs 17 crore has been set aside for setting up a business facilitation centre which will help the returning diaspora set up their own ventures,” said Issac. The Kerala diaspora is around 2.5 million, with close to 90% in the Middle East countries.

Source: Hindustan Times February 02, 2018 09:45 UTC