Nagpur SEZ plan on a slow burner

There is growing discontent in industry circles in Nagpur about the fate of the cargo hub project as the Centre has given an 'in principle' clearance to Uttar Pradesh for setting up an special economic zone (SEZ) at Noida spread over 1,000 hectare along the expressway.

The Nagpur multi-modal international air passenger and cargo hub project and an SEZ alongside was a first of its kind proposal made about a decade ago.

Industrialists here feel that the concept has since been hijacked and other states have taken a lead in making similar proposals and getting the Centre to sanction them. The recent clearance to the Uttar Pradesh SEZ has been received as a shock by the local industry here.

Mohan Agrawal, president of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA), said that a nation can have only so many SEZs and if these keep sprouting across India the way they are being proposed, Nagpur won't be left with much opportunities.

A parallel organisation of the industry, the Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED), had first mooted the concept of a multi-modal international air passenger and cargo hub about a decade ago. Indian Airlines along with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had also conducted several feasibility studies for the same.

Later, when the civil aviation ministry informed the industry that the cargo payload generated from Nagpur did not justify the expenditure in an air cargo hub here, the industry had proposed that a SEZ be sanctioned for Nagpur.

The proposal was also favoured by the then Union heavy industries minister Manohar Joshi who had publicly announced that he would personally get the necessary clearances from the Centre within 10 days. However, this was not to be.

The industry is incensed at the fact that the proposal to set up the SEZ at Noida was earlier rejected by the Centre, but when the UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav took up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an "in principle" clearance was granted.

The issue was also followed up by the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Council chairman Amar Singh with Union commerce minister Kamal Nath.

The industry is contrasting this effort on the part of politicians from UP with that of political leaders from Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government had, subsequent to the assurance of Manohar Joshi, indeed submitted a proposal for the SEZ.

The papers were, however, returned with a note that the proposal was defective and a fresh proposal be made out for consideration of the central government. The fresh proposal has not yet been made.

In the meantime, SEZs were sanctioned for Raipur, Indore, Manglore and even at Sinnar and Baramati in western Maharashtra. Another SEZ has been mooted near the Mumbai-Thane industrial belt and at Hyderabad. The SEZ near Nagpur was to be an added attraction for the cargo hub project and also near the five star industrial estate at Butibori.

Moreover, the Container Corporation of India (Concor) already has an inland container depot here with Customs bonded warehouse and other Customs clearance facilities.

The Central Excise and Customs department have, on numerous occasions, pointed out that it could also extend the same facilities at the Nagpur airport for the cargo hub project.

AAI has gone a step further in creating necessary infrastructure for the same and also handing over the building with bonded warehouse facilities to the Customs and Central Excise department. All this is lying waste or inadequately utilised now.

The industry has pointed out that the SEZ and the cargo hub project would have given development a boost in the backward region as it would have created jobs.

However, the political leadership of the region has failed to pursue the matter as even a revised proposal has not yet been submitted to the Centre, the industry feels. This has once again exposed the apathy of the western Maharashtra leadership towards the industrial development of Vidarbha region.

Along with Butibori five star industrial estate, a similar industrial estate was started at Baramati. While the latter thrived, Butibori industrial estate is struggling to survive.

Politicians of both parties, the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party have been making tall claims about the cargo hub project, but it is yet to move off the ground.

The industry believes that the very purpose of having a SEZ may already have been defeated as other SEZs have started functioning and have attracted a lot of investment.

Ironically, the UP government had sent teams of officials to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat to study the working of SEZs and incorporate their "best features" in Noida.

The central government had, in April, rejected the UP government's proposal for the SEZ in Noida. After this, the state government reframed the proposal that will now be spread over 2,500 hectares. The UP government will also constitute a special authority for the SEZ under state government law.

Industrialists here find the vigour shown by the UP government in establishing SEZ at Noida sadly missing in politicians of Maharashtra for furthering the cause of the Nagpur SEZ.