Fresh approval for 10 SEZs; 3 Mundra projects allowed to merge
23 Feb 2009
The government today gave fresh approvals for 10 special economic zone proposals, including those of engineering major Larsen & Toubro and the Navi Mumbai SEZ, promoted by Anand Jain, an aide of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd, which has promoted various zones, received fresh approval for the one dedicated to the gems and jewellery sector.
The Board of Approval (BoA) chaired by commerce secretary GK Pillai also gave the nod for 11 investors to join as ''co-developers'' in SEZs across the country.
The BoA also approved the merger of three SEZs in Mundra, Gujarat following clearance from the empowered group of ministers (EGOM) as the combined are of the three exceeded 5,000 hectares and total investment topped Rs100,000 crore.
The merged Mundra SEZ will also get 6 new co-developers while one of the SEZs to be merged into the combined entity is setting up a 300-MW power plant to be commissioned next month.
The BoA meeting, chaired by commerce secretary G K Pillai, cleared the Essar SEZ project in Gujarat of the tariff area overlap issue and allowed it t proceed.
The SEZ Act 2005 provides for a single-window SEZ approval mechanism through a 19-member inter-ministerial SEZ Board of Approval (BoA). The commerce secretary is the BoA chairman.