Kannurകണ്ണൂർ
25.2 lakh people. Larger than Bahrain, Estonia, or Mauritius. Governed as one cell of one state.
- Population
- 25,23,003 (25.2 lakh)
- Area
- 2,966 km²
- Headquarters
- Kannur
₹15,106 cr
of bankable business potential identified by the government in Kannur.
Source: NABARD PLP 2023-24
Opportunities
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NABARD's plan for Kannur · PLP 2023-24
₹15,106 crof bankable credit potential identified by the government
Housing
₹4,902 cr
Crop production, maintenance & marketing
₹3,941 cr
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME)
₹2,269 cr
Education
₹1,364 cr
NABARD's Potential Linked Credit Plan for Kannur (2023-24) sizes the district's bankable opportunity at about ₹15,106 crore. Agriculture and allied activities make up the biggest slice at roughly ₹5,846 crore (around 39% of the plan), while MSME adds ₹2,269 crore and housing a striking ₹4,902 crore on the back of strong Gulf-remittance home-building demand.
For an entrepreneur, a few clusters stand out. First, plantation crops: Kannur is Kerala's No. 1 cashew district and a leader in coconut, arecanut, pepper and rubber, with ₹445 crore of plantation/horticulture term credit and a coconut-development push through the Keragramam programme. Second, value addition: food and agro-processing alone is sized at ₹258 crore, and with 108 existing units and abundant coconut, cashew, spice and fruit raw material, there is clear room for new processing units. Third, allied livestock and fisheries: dairy term loans of ₹412 crore, goat/piggery ₹77 crore, and ₹83 crore for coastal and inland fisheries supported by schemes like Matsyakeralam and bio-floc aquaculture. Traditional industry — handloom, beedi, coir, wood-based units — underpins the ₹2,269 crore MSME number, with four PPP Science Parks planned.
The PLP's own complaint: there are no cold-storage facilities and storage/marketing infrastructure is inadequate, irrigation intensity is just 9.40% with only the Pazhassi project being revived, crop-insurance uptake is very poor, and MSME lending keeps missing its targets.
What the plan promotes
- Coconut, the district's dominant plantation crop, with NABARD-backed plantation & horticulture term lending of ₹445.04 cr; the Keragramam programme develops contiguous blocks of at least 250 ha and a State Coconut Council drives replanting with high-yielding palms.
- Cashew, where Kannur ranks 1st in Kerala for area, plus arecanut and pepper (2nd) and rubber (3rd) — pepper grown as an intercrop with coconut and arecanut; Asia's largest cinnamon plantation (Brown's, ~500 acres) sits at Ancharakandy.
- Dairy and goat/piggery farming as the major allied activities, with dairy term loans of ₹412.38 cr and sheep-goat-piggery of ₹77.36 cr; state schemes include Gosamrudhi insurance and Govardhini heifer-maintenance subsidy up to ₹12,500.
- Food and agro-processing, sized at ₹258.33 cr — the district has 108 food/agro units and an abundant raw-material base in coconut, cashew, spices and fruit, making it a strong value-addition play.
- Fisheries along the long coastline and inland waters, ₹83.38 cr of term credit, supported by Matsyakeralam, Subhikshakeralam inland-fish and bio-floc/RAS aquaculture under PMMSY; ADCOS aquafarmer society is active.
- MSME manufacturing and services worth ₹2,268.93 cr, anchored by traditional handloom, beedi and coir plus wood-based and general-engineering industries; Industries Department offers 4-5% interest schemes and four PPP Science Parks (₹1,000 cr, ₹200 cr each, 10 lakh sq ft) are planned.
Gaps the plan names
- Inadequate storage and marketing infrastructure — only about 18,284 MT of Kerala State Warehousing Corporation capacity and a few small private godowns; there are NO cold storage facilities in the district.
- Very low irrigation intensity at 9.40% — only about 5% of ground-water potential is used; wells supply ~42% of irrigated area and the lone major project (Pazhassi) is only now being revived, so micro-irrigation (drip/sprinkler) is needed.
- Quality seed and planting material remains a constraint, and there are inadequate arrangements for organic input supply for farmers shifting to organic cultivation.
- Weak MSME / secondary-sector credit performance — banks have repeatedly fallen short of MSME targets, dragging down the secondary sector while the primary sector overshoots.
- Very poor uptake of crop insurance (PMFBY/WBCIS) among farmers, leaving them exposed to climate-change risk and debt traps.
See the plan's recommendations
What the plan promotes
- Coconut, the district's dominant plantation crop, with NABARD-backed plantation & horticulture term lending of ₹445.04 cr; the Keragramam programme develops contiguous blocks of at least 250 ha and a State Coconut Council drives replanting with high-yielding palms.
- Cashew, where Kannur ranks 1st in Kerala for area, plus arecanut and pepper (2nd) and rubber (3rd) — pepper grown as an intercrop with coconut and arecanut; Asia's largest cinnamon plantation (Brown's, ~500 acres) sits at Ancharakandy.
- Dairy and goat/piggery farming as the major allied activities, with dairy term loans of ₹412.38 cr and sheep-goat-piggery of ₹77.36 cr; state schemes include Gosamrudhi insurance and Govardhini heifer-maintenance subsidy up to ₹12,500.
- Food and agro-processing, sized at ₹258.33 cr — the district has 108 food/agro units and an abundant raw-material base in coconut, cashew, spices and fruit, making it a strong value-addition play.
- Fisheries along the long coastline and inland waters, ₹83.38 cr of term credit, supported by Matsyakeralam, Subhikshakeralam inland-fish and bio-floc/RAS aquaculture under PMMSY; ADCOS aquafarmer society is active.
- MSME manufacturing and services worth ₹2,268.93 cr, anchored by traditional handloom, beedi and coir plus wood-based and general-engineering industries; Industries Department offers 4-5% interest schemes and four PPP Science Parks (₹1,000 cr, ₹200 cr each, 10 lakh sq ft) are planned.
Gaps the plan names
- Inadequate storage and marketing infrastructure — only about 18,284 MT of Kerala State Warehousing Corporation capacity and a few small private godowns; there are NO cold storage facilities in the district.
- Very low irrigation intensity at 9.40% — only about 5% of ground-water potential is used; wells supply ~42% of irrigated area and the lone major project (Pazhassi) is only now being revived, so micro-irrigation (drip/sprinkler) is needed.
- Quality seed and planting material remains a constraint, and there are inadequate arrangements for organic input supply for farmers shifting to organic cultivation.
- Weak MSME / secondary-sector credit performance — banks have repeatedly fallen short of MSME targets, dragging down the secondary sector while the primary sector overshoots.
- Very poor uptake of crop insurance (PMFBY/WBCIS) among farmers, leaving them exposed to climate-change risk and debt traps.
Value-chain gaps
Money this district loses today
Raw output sold cheap, value added elsewhere — each gap below is an opening for a local business.
Resources
What this district has
Tap a category to see the facts and figures underneath. Numbers marked unverified are AI-extracted and need a sourcing pass.
About Kannur
Kannur district is one of the 14 districts along the west coast in the state of Kerala, India. The city of Kannur is the district headquarters and gives the district its name. The old name, Cannanore, is the anglicized form of the Malayalam name "Kannur". Kannur district is bounded by Kasaragod District to the north, Kozhikode district to the south, Mahé district to the southwest and Wayanad District to the southeast. To the east, the district is bounded by the Western Ghats, which forms the border with the state of Karnataka. The Arabian Sea lies to the west. Paithalmala is the highest point in Kannur District (1,372m). Enclosed within the southern part of the district is the Mahé district of the Union Territory of Puducherry. The district was established in 1957.
Source: Wikipedia — Kannur district
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