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Our Bureau

Kolkata , May 26

The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry is set to approve approximately Rs 58,000 crore worth of new SEZs (Special Economic Zones) next month.

According to Mr G.K. Pillai, Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 52 cases are pending for a formal approval. Till now, he said, 67 SEZs has been approved and out of it 16 has become functional. The next meeting of the Unit Approval Committee is scheduled on June 12, 2006.

Allotments

According to Mr Pillai, the IT and ITES sector has got the most number of SEZs but in terms of total land allotments, multi-product SEZs are the leaders. In this context, he mentioned about the infrastructure being set up by leading IT majors like Cognizant, Dell and Flectronics.

"In the current financial year, we are expecting Rs 25,000 crore worth of exports from the SEZs that become operational," he said.

Investment proposal

Regarding the proposed investment by the Singapore Government in a SEZ, he said, representatives of the Singapore Government are talking with State Governments of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Elaborating further on the SEZ policy, Mr Pillai said, new technical education institutes can enjoy the benefit of SEZs and these institutions would not come under the purview of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education).

Disney Land

"In fact in Mumbai an entrepreneur is trying to build an Indian Disney Land. It would create huge employment. He has applied for SEZ status and we would consider," he said.

The West Bengal Government is also planning to set up a multi-product SEZ over a 15,000 acre of land. Apart from that the Ministry has received applications from DLF, Unitech, Riverside Holdings, ML Dalmiya & Co's IT and leather complex, for SEZs in West Bengal.

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