The Kerala ‘startup’ story
In 2001, Kerala’s largest industrial unit, Mavoor Gwalior Rayon (now part of Grasim), shut its plant in Mavoor town in Kozhikode district amid allegations of polluting the Chaliyar river. Earlier, the factory—set up in the 1960s—had already halted operations in 1985 following labour unrest, with trade unions demanding higher wages. Owned by the Birla group and located on the banks of the Chaliyar, the plant once employed nearly 5,000 people across communities, classes and linguistic backgrounds.
