Days after pulling out its proposed investment from Kerala, textile and garments major Kitex Garments has announced an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in Telangana. The Kerala-based firm, which is also the second-largest children's apparel manufacturer in the world, will be setting up its units at the Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park in Warangal, Telangana.

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The announcement came in a few days after Kitex's MD Sabu Jacob said that he was withdrawing a proposed investment of Rs 3,500 crore to build apparel and industrial parks in Kerala alleging harassment by the authorities in the state.

Jacob flew to Hyderabad on Friday to meet Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao in a private jet sent by the Telangana government. This is after the company held talks with the state of Tamil Nadu and reportedly received interest from nine other states.

As per a statement from the Telangana government, Jacob held a series of meetings with KTR and the state's Industries Department. After initial round of meetings, the Kitex team flew to Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and inspected the premises before announcing the investment.

This is the first phase of the investment and will be done in a span of two years. The proposed investment to set up an apparel manufacturing facility is expected to generate 4,000 jobs.

KTR too, welcomed Kitex group's decision to invest in KMTP, Warangal, and assured the company of complete cooperation to set up operations in Telangana.

Kitex Garments had signed the Rs 3,500 investment project with the Kerala government in Kochi in January 2020 during the Ascend Global Investors Meet.

However, last week, Jacob said in a statement that he was finding it difficult to run the company’s existing industrial units in the state, alleging several raids by 40-50 officials each time, which hampered workers from doing their job. The Kitex factory has been operational in Kochi for 26 years now and employs over 10,000 people.

While leaving for Hyderabad on Friday, Jacob said that he wasn't abandoning Kerala, but that he was being "kicked out" and had no choice since a businessman 'needs peace', which he doesn't have in Kerala.

He claimed that no one from the Kerala government reached out to ask about why the company was withdrawing its investment and called for a change in the approach of the Kerala government.