Clutch of 24 SEZs cleared

The Govt grants formal approval to 24 special economic zone (SEZ) proposals that includes Reliance Industries zone in Gurgaon and GMR group’s zone in Hyderabad, reports Gaurav Choudhury.

The government on Tuesday granted formal approval to 24 special economic zone (SEZ) proposals that included Reliance Industries’ 440 hectare zone in Gurgaon and the GMR group’s airport-based export area in Hyderabad.

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The board of approval, the nodal authority mandated to examine proposals for such zones, also granted approval in principle to Rewas Port Trust’s 2,850 hectare port-based export area at Rewas in Maharashtra.

Commerce secretary GK Pillai said the board considered 44 proposals and 24 of them received formal approvals. 9 proposals received approvals in principle and the board deferred a decision on the remaining 13.

Special economic zone proposals go through a three-stage process. They are first considered for approval in principle based on the merits of the applications, followed by a formal approval and finally a notification.

The Rewas port economic zone will be strategically located because of its proximity to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and the last halt of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor. Over 200 high-speed freight trains will run on the corridor in a few years from now with linkages to other ports, industrial zones and markets.

The state government had withdrawn the Anil Ambani group's proposal for a special economic zone in Noida.

The board approved the GMR group’s proposal for a 101 hectare zone near the Hyderabad International Airport. The GMR-built greenfield airport will be operational from next year.

So far, the government has notified 114 zones, and 150 cases where land has been acquired are pending before the board.