New Delhi: The government Friday approved denotification of six special economic zones (SEZs) and considered a total of four new proposals worth Rs 6,451 crore but cleared only two of them.
The decision was taken in a meeting of Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary S R Rao.
"The BoA considered four new proposals for establishing
SEZ (including one on multi-product, two on IT/ITeS and one engineering) with a total investment of Rs 6,451.31 crore," an official statement said that.
It, however, said that out of four, only two proposals were cleared, while the others were deferred for the next meeting pending certain clarifications.
"The BoA also cleared the denotification of six SEZ projects, including one textile sector and five IT/ITeS SEZs," it said.
Companies like Uttam Galva Steel Ltd, Vatika Jaipur SEZ Developers and Orient Craft Infrastructure had approached the government to surrender their projects in different parts of the country.
Four developers who have approached to set up new zones include Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZL), iGate Global Solutions and Transcendent Developers.
While APSEZL plans to set up multi-product zone in Gujarat, iGate Global Solutions and Transcendent Developers have planned their IT projects in Mahrashtra.
The statement also said the board has approved the conversion of the 624.786 hectare Mangalore SEZ from a sector specific zone to a multi product one.
"This change would enable the SEZ to invite units to be set up in a variety of sectors," it said.
It said that few developers have sought extension of letters of approval, including those of ONGC unit at Multi- modal International Cargo Hub and Airport (MIHAN) (Rs 903.7 crore), Air India unit at MIHAN (Rs 265 crore), Gopalpur SEZ in Orissa (Rs 235 crore), Stargaze SEZ at Andhra Pradesh (Rs 186 crore), Velankani SEZ at Tamil Nadu (Rs 154 crore).
Further, the BoA for export oriented units approved three proposals for setting up of
EOUs which would generate an investment of around Rs 35 crore.
"Over a five year period, these new EOUs would export goods and services worth Rs 445 crore and generate employment for more than 700 people," the release added.
The total exports from SEZ up to June 30 were Rs 1.13 lakh crore and the investment stood at Rs 2,60,252 crore and over 11.35 lakh persons were employed in the sector.
Source : zeenews.india.com