Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday backtracked on his stance regarding industrial growth in Kerala, stating that the state needs more MSME start-ups — not just on paper.

Sharing a news report from an English daily on ‘X’, Mr Tharoor expressed disappointment over the state’s start-up ecosystem, saying it was not as promising as reported.

“Dismayed to see that the Kerala start-up entrepreneurship story is not what’s been reported,” he posted.

The news report he shared claimed that over 42,000 MSMEs had shut down in Kerala over the past nine years, resulting in the loss of employment for at least 1,03,764 workers.

“The only silver lining is that at least the GoK’s claims point to the right intentions. We need more MSME start-ups— and not just on paper. Kerala must head this way!” his post added.

However, State Industries Minister P Rajeeve dismissed the news report as “baseless.” “I provided a detailed reply in the Assembly on February 10. Recently, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal stated in Parliament that 1,700 MSMEs shut down in Kerala over the past four years,” he said.

Mr Rajeeve further pointed out that while 30 per cent of MSMEs in the country shut down within their first year, the figure in Kerala was only 15 per cent.

He alleged that the report was published with ulterior motives, as it did not cite the source of its figures.

Mr Tharoor’s recent remarks on Kerala’s industrial growth sparked controversy within the Congress state unit.

The Congress Working Committee member ruffled feathers in the party after writing an article in an English daily praising the industrial policy of the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala.

Notably, the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s post came just two days after the Congress leadership held a brainstorming session with Kerala leaders at the party headquarters in New Delhi to strategise for next year’s Assembly polls. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)