Economy of Kochi
[2] Major business sectors include construction, manufacturing, shipbuilding, transportation/shipping, seafood and spices exports, chemical industries, information technology (IT), tourism, health services, and banking.
To tap the potential of the natural harbour at Kochi further, a marina[3] and an international container transshipment terminal[4] have been built.
As in most of Kerala, inward remittances from abroad by Non Resident Indians (NRI) is a major source of income.
The Headquarters of the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy is situated at Venduruthy about 5 kilometers south of the city centre.
The state government has given priority to the establishment of IT and BPO enterprises to exploit the opportunities that have arisen in the field.
Eloor, situated 17 km north of the city, is an island of 11.21 km2 and is the largest industrial belt in Kerala.
[7] Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as a fully owned Government of India company.
The yard has delivered two of India's largest double hull Aframax tankers each of 95,000 DWT.
CSL has secured shipbuilding orders from internationally renowned companies from Europe & Middle East and is nominated to build the country's first indigenously built Air Defence Ship.
The yard has, over the years, developed adequate capabilities to handle complex and sophisticated repair jobs.
The availability of 15 Gbit/s bandwidth, through undersea cables such as FLAG, SAFE and SEA ME WE 3 ensures seamless data flow, and lower operational costs compared to other major cities in India, has been to its advantage.
A larger technology campus, the SmartCity, Kochi, is under construction, the first phase of which is expected to open by March 2015.
The private operator NeST[11] is building a Special Economic Zone specifically for electronics hardware spanning an area of 30 acres.
The higher GDP and per-capita income in the surrounding districts promote the retail business.
Gold Souk Grande Kochi is a larger mall which is partially open for business.
Places like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and parts of North India are the biggest markets for plywood.
[15] Portuguese traders built a factory in Cochin after obtaining permission from the Cochinite government in 1500.
[13] Cochin became the capital of the newly formed Portuguese India, and the kingdom became a puppet state of Portugal.
In 1662, the Dutch Republic launched an invasion of Cochin during a succession crisis, and completed it by February 1663.
Further treaties eroded the power of the government and turned the kingdom into a puppet state of the company.
