Govt nod to 36 SEZs, including 3 of RIL

The government today granted formal approval to 36 special economic zones, including three zones promoted by Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

All three zones were proposed to be set up by Navi Mumbai SEZ Private Ltd, a company promoted by Ambani and his associate Anand Jain, a senior official said.

The SEZ Board of Approval, which met here today, also granted in-principle approval to 9 zones out of the 52 that were taken up for discussion.

The board has cleared Reliance Infocomm Infrastructure Pvt Ltd's (an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm) 18-hectare information technology zone at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City at Navi Mumbai.

Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd proposes to set up three zones covering a total area of 345 hectares "" 63.74 hectares for a biotechnology zone, 179 hectares for a light engineering zone and a 103.25 hectare site for pharmaceuticals.

The consortium has also planned a 1,250 hectare multi-product SEZ at Navi Mumbai, which is yet to get clearance from the board. Earlier, the revenue department had raised some issues regarding the project, on which the state government and the promoters' comments have been received.

"The comments have been circulated among the members of the Board of Approval (BoA) for consideration. The proposal would be taken up at the next meeting of the board on July 12," BoA Chairman and Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said.

DLF Ltd's multi-product SEZ, spread over 2,024 hectare in Alwar district of Rajasthan, was given in-principle approval by the BoA. The company's 10.06-hectare electronics hardware and IT zone at Sonepat in Haryana was also given formal approval.

A 100-hectare aviation zone by GMR Hyderabad International Airport in Andhra was also accorded formal approval.

A hardware manufacturing SEZ by Foxconn India Developers (P) Ltd, which will scale up the size to 136 hectare from the current 11 hectare at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, was also approved by the board.

The firm supplies electronic hardware to companies like Nokia and Motorola. In all, Foxconn would be investing $1.5 billion in the next 2-3 years in the country.

Among those that received in-principle approval was a multi-product SEZ of Ramky Infrastructure Ltd in Midnapore. "This is the first multi-product SEZ that has been cleared for West Bengal. Now barring Bihar and the Northeast, SEZs have been approved in all states. Bihar and the Northeast have been left out as no application has been received from there," Pillai said.

The BoA also approved two SEZs in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the first ones for the Union Territory. As of today, 339 SEZs have been formally approved, of which 126 have been notified.

FACTFILE

36 zones spread over 2,005 hectares granted formal approval

Out of 36 zones, 21 are IT/ITeS and electronic hardware SEZs, 5 are for biotechnology and related activities, 2 each for pharma and food processing, one each for aviation, R&D, light engineering, gems and jewellery, textile and apparel, and light engineering.

9 zones spreading over 4,841 hectares given in-principle approval

Out of 9 zones, 3 are multi-product, while one each is agro-based, integrated steel SEZ, electronics, multi-services, aerospace related industries, and engineering equipment and components