The Board of Approval of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) met on 25^th February, 2008 to consider proposals for setting up of Special Economic Zones and also approve other miscellaneous requests pertaining to SEZs.

Addressing the Board of Approval members, the Chairman informed that so far formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 439 SEZs out of which 201 have been notified as on date. He informed that over Rs. 67347 crore have been invested in these notified SEZs during this short span of time. Direct employment of the order of  97478 persons has been generated in the new generation SEZs, which is in addition to the employment provided by the 7 Central Government established SEZs which is over 1.83 lakh persons.

In this meeting, 14 proposals for setting up SEZs, including 3 proposals for conversion of in-principle approvals to formal approvals. The Board recommended grant of 10 Formal approvals.

Prominent among them are:

· Formal approvals:

Sector specific SEZ for manufacture of Transport Engineering Goods in Tamil Nadu by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT).

Mineral and mineral based products SEZ in Madhya Pradesh by Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas (Jabalpur) Limited Pharmaceuticals SEZ in GIDC, Panoli Industrial Estate, Gujarat by J.B. SEZ Private Ltd.

IT/ITES/Electronic Hardware/Software SEZ in Andhra Pradesh by Devbhumi Realtors Pvt. Ltd Power SEZ in Maharashtra by Wardha Power Company Private Limited  IT/ITES SEZ in Haryana by Anant Raj Industries Limited Two SEZs for Handicrafts and Light Engineering in Jaipur, Rajasthan by Mahindra Worldcity (Jaipur) Limited.

Conversion of In Principle approval to Formal approval for:

Auto mobile/automobile parts/auto ancillary and support services SEZ in Tamil Nadu by SIPCOT  IT/ITES/EH SEZ in West Bengal by Videocon Reality and Infrastructures Limited.

Approvals in 22ndBoA held on 25.02.08
	Formal Approvals:
Sl.No.	Developer	Location	State	Product	Area (Hectares)
1	State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT)	Tirunelveli Taluk Tamil Nadu	TN	Transport Engineering Goods for manufacture of all types of tyres	103.23.8
2	Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas (Jabalpur) Limited	District Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh	MP	Mineral and mineral based products	101.21
3	J.B. SEZ Private Ltd.	GIDC, Panoli Industrial Estate, Panoli, Gujarat	GJ	Pharmaceuticals	130
4	Devbhumi Realtors Pvt. Ltd.	Ranga Reddy District, Andhra Pradesh	AP	IT/ITES,Electronic Hardware and software	10.12
5	Wardha Power Company Private Limited	Chandrapur District, Maharashtra	MH	Power	102.1592
6	Anant Raj Industries Ltd.	Sonepat, Haryana	HR	IT/ITES	10
7	Mahindra Worldcity (Jaipur) Limited	Jaipur, Rajasthan	RJ	Handicrafts	103.11
8	Mahindra Worldcity (Jaipur) Limited	Jaipur, Rajasthan	RJ	Light Engineering	104.35
	In principle to Formal Approval:
9	State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT)	Thiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu	TN	Auto mobile/ automobile parts/ auto ancillary & support services including trading & logistic activities	103.24
10	Videocon Reality and Infrastructures Limited	Jalpaiguri, West Bengal	WB	IT/ITES including Electronic Hardware	10

SEZ approvals: ten formal approvals and conversions authorised, enabling sector specific SEZ projects to proceed under regulatory framework. The Board of Approval recommended grant of 10 formal approvals and conversion of specified in principle approvals to formal status for SEZ projects across multiple states; approved projects cover transport engineering goods, mineral and mineral based products, pharmaceuticals, IT/ITES and electronic hardware/software, power, handicrafts and light engineering, with each approval listing the developer, location, principal activity and area, thereby authorising those site specific SEZ economic activities to proceed under SEZ regulatory provisions.