Centre to assist in Agra SEZ

After a long delay, the Centre has agreed to provide assistance to Agra industrialists for the development of an integrated special economic zone (SEZ) in the town that can serve handicrafts, leather and carpet units.

Talking to representatives of industrial organisations of the town, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said the central government was ready to provide any assistance that was required for the development of an integrated SEZ in Agra, and as soon as the industrialists were able to form the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to take over the management of the SEZ, the government would approve the project submitted by this SPV.

Ramesh came to Agra to preside over an interactive session on export potential from Uttar Pradesh, organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Northern Region) and the UP Export Promotion Bureau.

According to the minister, since involving the state government construction agencies in such a task had been a "bad" experience for both the central government and the industrialists, it would be better if the SEZ was developed by a private developer instead of agencies like UPSIDC.

Jairam said the SEZ would have to be developed in at least 100 hectares of land and the SPV would also be responsible for marking the most appropriate site for its development.

He said the central government was also ready to provide its support for the development of a common testing facility for Agra's footwear and leather accessories industry and the chairman of Council of Leather Exports would soon be visiting the town for further discussions on the project.

On the question of the Footwear Components Park project still lying pending, the minister said the development of the park was entirely a responsibility of the UP government and it was only after the state government showed some initiation, that the central government would get involved in the project.

Later, talking to Business Standard, Puran Dawar, director, Dawar Footwear, and CEO Agra Footwear Infrastructure Development Company (AFID), engaged in the development of a Footwear Components Park in Agra, said there was no need for the formation of a separate SPV for developing the SEZ as the AFID was already in place for such a task and it shall be preparing a project report to be submitted for the formation of the integrated SEZ in Agra soon.