Four in the race for Kanpur SEZ project

Four companies "" Sahara India, Tata Housing, Eldeco Housing and a Kanpur consortium "" have submitted their bids for developing the special economic zone in Kanpur.

Buoyed by the response, the last date for bidding has been extended to November 30.

Sahara India is well known in the construction business and has recently floated a plan to develop housing estates in 88 cities. But it will, be its first attempt at creating an integrated township in the form of special economic zone.

Tata Housing has big plans for industrial infrastructure in the state and has submitted bids for all the three special economic zones "" Taj Economic Zone, Kanpur Economic Zone and Purva Economic Zone (Varanasi)"" planned in Uttar Pradesh.

Eldeco, launched in the late Seventies in Agra, is executing housing projects in several cities.

The Kanpur consortium has been floated by a group of local companies, led by Mirza Tanners, to bid for developing the Kanpur special economic zone.

Two companies have also shown interest in setting up power plants in the Kanpur zone. While Essar plans to establish a 500 mw captive power plant, Reliance Energy has proposed to set up a 300 mw plant.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to increase the size of the special economic zone. The government has already acquired 1,070 acres of land, as per the initial plan. To build a road, which will connect the zone to the Lucknow-Kanpur Highway, the government plans to acquire another 1,200 acres. And to further increase the size of the zone, the government plans to acquire 1,600 acres of more land.

A proposal to include the Ganga barrage in the special economic zone is also under the study.

Petroleum Minister Ram Naik's recent announcement to set up a gas distribution project in Kanpur to supply natural gas to the city's industry by early next year has come as s shot in the arm.