Tuesday, February 24, 2009

BOARD OF APPROVAL ALLOWS MERGER OF 3 SEZS

New Delhi
The Hindu Business Line

The Board of Approval for SEZs, chaired by the Commerce Secretary, G.K. Pillai, on Monday allowed the merger of three stand-alone SEZs, promoted by the Adani Group at Mundra in Gujarat, following the nod given to such a proposal by the empowered group of Ministers (eGoM) on SEZs headed by the Union Finance and External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee.

The combined SEZs with an area of 6,215 hectares exceed the maximum ceiling of 5,000 ha set by the eGoM in 2007, following protests over indiscriminate acquisition of farmland.

However, this amalgamation has been granted by the eGoM as it would help the promoter to pare down costs and achieve a synergy in building infrastructure and utilising it efficiently, Pillai told reporters after chairing the BoA meeting here.

The three SEZ units, located near the Mundra port, include two multi-product units and a 300 MW power plant to be commissioned next month, Pillai said.

Besides the merger of the three SEZs, the BoA also granted formal approval to nine proposals out of 25 proposals it considered and one in-principle approval to Maharashtra Airport Development Authority for an SEZ in power sector in an area of 109.54 ha at Nagpur.

9 more proposals

The nine formal approvals include Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd for a gem and jewellery SEZ, L&T shipbuilding Ltd SEZ for heavy engineering near Enore, Tamil Nadu, two bio-tech SEZs in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana each and IT/ITES SEZ in UP.

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