547 acres acquired for Bhadohi SEZ

With an investment of Rs 16.66 crore, about 547 acres of land has been acquired for the special economic zone (SEZ) in Bhadohi.

The proposed SEZ is on the Bhadohi-Varanasi highway (SH-87) with connectivity to NH-2 via SH-98.

This was stated by CK Tiwari, managing director, UP State Industrial Development Corporation, in an industry meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at ACMA Meeting Hall in Bhadohi last week.

In his detailed presentation on SEZs, Tiwari explained the concept of special economic zones, defined crucial terms and outlined the various incentives & benefits that accrue not only to the industries in the SEZ but also to the its developers.

While speaking on the occasion, Atul Kumar Gupta, industrial development commissioner, Uttar Pradesh government, recommended the establishment of a Single Product SEZ at Bhadohi as a better alternative considering that textiles easily qualify for a single product SEZ instead of a multi-product SEZ at Bhadohi which had no takers.

"Such a SEZ would provide a secure environment to the industry and can be looked at as a single solution to the law and order problem in the region," said Gupta.

Gupta also clarified that at least 50% of the total area of the special economic zone must be utilized for manufacturing processes and the rest can be utilized for other industrial activities.

Earlier while referring to the origin of the concept of special economic zone Gupta stated that the SEZ concept started from China which was a communist society while India on the contrary is a free nation and improving the industrial infrastructure everywhere within the country was not practically possible, however, the infrastructure can be improved in certain pockets called SEZs.