BOA for SEZs grants 23 approvals

1. The 26th meeting of the Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) was held on 4th June, 2008 to consider proposals for setting up of Special Economic Zones and also approved other requests pertaining to SEZs.

2. Chairman informed the members of the Board that so far, formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 467 SEZs out of which 225 have been notified as on date. The newly notified Special Economic Zones are providing direct employment to about 97,993 persons. Out of the total employment provided to 3.36 lakh persons in SEZs as a whole, 2.01 lakh is incremental employment generated after February, 2006 when the SEZ Act came into force.

3. Chairman also informed the members that physical exports from the Special Economic Zones have increased from Rs.34615 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.66638 crore in 2007-08, registering a growth of 92%.

4. In this meeting, 27 proposals for setting up of SEZs, including 4 proposals for conversion of In-Principle approval to Formal Approval were considered. The Board recommended grant of 21 Formal approvals and 2 conversion of In-Principle Approval to Formal Approval as follows :

Formal approvals: „« 6 IT/ITES, 4 Sector Specific, 2 FTWZs and one Gems and Jewellery SEZ in Andhra Pradesh by Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Limited

„« IT SEZ in Uttar Pradesh by Diamond IT Infracon Pvt. Limited

„« Electronic Hardware, Software and IT/ITES SEZ in Karnataka by Hera Realcon Pvt. Ltd.

„« 2 IT/ITES SEZs in Gujarat by SGV Infrastructure Private Limited and Larsen and Toubro Limited

„« Electronic Hardware and Software including IT/ITES SEZ in Maharashtra by Rameshwar Vaibhav Development Pvt. Ltd. „« Airport based SEZ in Bangalore by Bangalore International Airport Ltd.

„« IT/ITES SEZ in Karnataka by Milestone Buildcon Private Ltd.

„« Engineering SEZ in Haryana by Ansal Kamdhenu Engineering SEZ Ltd.

Conversion of in-principle to formal approval

„« Metal SEZ in Maharashtra by Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd.

„« Engineering SEZ in Maharashtra by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation

Matter of Goa SEZs

Personal hearing was also given to the Developers of four formally approved SEZs in Goa, in the wake of withdrawal of recommendation by the State Government. After hearing the Developers in detail, it was decided to refer the submission made by them to the State Government for their comments, before taking a final decision, in view of the fact that no representative of the Goa Government attended the meeting.

Special Economic Zone approvals advance formal permissions and conversions, with developer referrals to state government for comments. The Board of Approval considered establishment and conversion proposals, recommending multiple Formal approvals across IT/ITES, sector specific, FTWZ and other SEZ categories, and recommended conversion of certain In Principle approvals to Formal Approval. The Board recorded prior approval and notification counts, reported employment and export growth figures for context, and referred developers' submissions to the relevant state government for comment after personal hearings where the state had withdrawn its recommendation.