Posco's Orissa SEZ gets nod

The government today granted in-principle clearance to Posco India Private Ltd's proposal (proposed investment of around Rs 53,000 cr) for a multi-product special economic zone in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa.

However, the Tatas' proposal for a multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur district in the state was deferred due to security concerns raised by the home ministry.

In all, the inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) formally approved 18 SEZ proposals, while 13 were granted in-principle clearance.

With this, the total number of approved zones has increased to 181. An official release said state government representatives present at the meeting had confirmed that the land involved in all the cases would only be waste and barren or single-crop land.

Zones that were formally approved include Jindal Stainless Ltd's proposal for a stainless steel and ancillary zone at Kalinga Nagar in Orissa, K Raheja Corp Pvt Ltd's proposal for a services zone in Phase IV-Verna Industrial Estate in Goa, a biotech zone of International Biotech Park Ltd at Hinjawadi in Pune, and a gems and jewellery zone of Gitanjali Gems Ltd at Raigad, Maharashtra.

Zones accorded in-principle approval include SKIL Infrastructure Ltd's airport-based multi-product SEZ at Una district in Himachal Pradesh, Videocon Realty and Infrastructure Ltd's multi-product SEZ at Aurangabad, and a multi-product zone of Indiabulls Infrastructure Development Ltd at Raigarh.