The total strength of employees of
these units is around 5500. The timber industry has great
influence on the economy of this district.
A feature of this industry is the concentration
of units in and around Kallai. A large number off saw mill
are located here. The finished timber goods are marketed locally.
As
a corollary to the establishment of saw mills, furniture making has
also sprung up in the district. There are 1031 registered forest
based industrial units. All these units are concentrated at Kallai,
Cheruvannur and Feroke area.
Another major industry is the tile
industry. The first tile factory
went on steam as early as 1874 in Puthjiyara, Kozhikode,
thanks to the endeavors of the Basel Mission Establishment. The
title factories are mostly concentrated
at feroke-Cheruvannur area, which is rich in quality clay
deposits. The tiles from Kozhikode are famous all over the country
and command an export market. There has also been diversification in
this industry with the production of ceramic pottery crockery, stone
ware pipes and insulation materials.
Among
other important industries mention may be made about textiles,
plywoods, splints and veneers, coir, printing and publishing,
general engineering, automobiles and oil. The state Government is running is an
industrial estate with an area of 12.43 acres at west hill. started
in 1962, the industrial estate now has 52 units. The products
manufactured are rubber based and allies d items, paints and
varnishes, engineering goods, plastics, bakery, steel fabrication
works, paper bags etc.
The district has ten mini industries
estates, set up in ten panchayats, namely Peruvayal, Kunnamangalam,
Kunnummal, Naduvannur, Chathamangalam, Payyoil, Balusseri, Unnikulam,
Kadalundi and Perambra. There are 118 industrial co-operative
societies in the districts.
According to the latest statistics
available, there are 16 large and medium units and 7709 (position as
on 1993-94)SSI units. Of the 7709 SSI units, 843 are agro based, 204
building material –based and 2794 miscellaneous.
