ECONOMY
The economy of Thiruvananthapuram city was earlier based on the tertiary sector with about 60% of the workforce being employed as government servants. Large scale industrial establishments are low compared to other south Indian state capitals like Chennai and Bangalore. At present the economy is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields of IT, and Medical/Bio-Technology. The city contributes 80% of software exports from the state. The opening of many private Television channels in the state, made Thiruvananthapuram the home of several studios and related industries. India's first and only animation park is situated here.
Since the establishment of Technopark in 1995, Thiruvananthapuram has steadily grown into a competitive IT centre. The city was rated as the best 2nd tier metro with IT/ITES infrastructure, and second in terms of availability of human talent. Technopark houses global majors like NeST (Network Systems & Technologies), Infosys, TCS, IBS Software Services , McKinsey & Co., Ernst & Young, Allianz Cornhill, Tata Elxsi, UST Global, etc. The park has around 110 companies employing over 12,500 professionals. With the expansion plans to be completed in 2007–08, this figure is to rise to about 30,000. With the completion of the 600,000 ft² Thejaswini, Technopark has become the largest IT Park in India. The works in progress include 400,000 ft² TCS Peepul Park and TCS Development Centre. Peepul Park is partly operational. Work on the 460,000 ft² Leela IT building, IBS Campus and Tata Elxsi D&D Centre has commenced while that on the US Tech Campus and Infosys campus is due to commence shortly.
Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Thiruvananthapuram. Foreign tourists generally use Thiruvananthapuram as a hub to explore the highly promoted tourism industry of the state of Kerala.Thiruvananthapuram is ranked first in the number of foreign tourists visiting Kerala.It is also a major destination for chartered flights to India for Medical tourism, as there are more than fifty recognised Ayurveda centres in and around the city. This is primarily due to Ayurveda's immense popularity in the West. Medical tourism is further promoted by the recuperation facilities available at the beach resorts and hill stations nearby.
There are around 20 government owned and 60 privately owned medium and large scale industrial units in Thiruvanathapuram. The major employers are the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), Milma, Keltron, Travancore Titanium and Hindustan Latex, all government owned. There are also about 30,000 small scale industrial units employing around 115,000 people. Traditional industries include handloom and coir.
Vizhinjam Port site
Commercial activity is quite low mainly due to the under-development of ports. However, this is expected to change with the construction of the proposed mega Deep Water Container Transshipment Port at Vizhinjam.Situated close to the city, Vizhinjam is very close to international shipping routes and the East-West shipping axis and hardly require maintenance dredging.Other major organizations of economic interest are the Chithranjali Film Complex, Kinfra Apparel Park, Kinfra Film and Video Park, Kerala High-tech Industries (KELTECH), Kerala Automobiles Limited and the English Indian Clays Ltd
