The Hindu Business Line : Brandix India bullish on Vizag project

Of the 1,000 acres allotted for the apparel city project, 60-65 per cent will be used for industrial purposes and the rest for setting up common effluent treatment plant and other common facilities.

Visakhapatnam , Sept. 22

Brandix India is bullish on its apparel city project in Visakhapatnam district and the work is going on as per schedule, said Mr Vinu Sudan, a company spokesman.

The AP Government has allotted 1,000 acres near Atchyuthapuram in Visakhapatnam district for the project, which is expected to generate 60,000 jobs. The company has ambitious plans to develop Vizag as a major export hub.

At a press meet here on Friday, he said the MoU was signed in June, 2005, and the land had been handed over only in June, 2006.

"We have taken some accommodation in the Visakhapatnam special economic zone (SEZ) and set up a training facility at Pendurthi for the first batch of 200 women recruited by the company. It shows our commitment to the project," he said.

`NO SLOWDOWN'

Playing down the recent remarks of the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, over the "slow pace of the project," Mr Sudan said the company was glad the Chief Minister himself was evincing interest in the project and monitoring its progress.

"We are on the job and we are aggressively marketing the Vizag apparel city and have got major companies such as Brandot, Sara Lee, Fountain Set and Crystal Group to visit the site and we are positive that our efforts will bear fruit," he said.

Yamato, a machine supplier, had agreed to set up service centre in the apparel city, which had been given the status of a SEZ, he said. Two fabric mills, with a combined capacity of 15,000 million tonnes per month, would require 250 acres of land. There would be 20 apparel units and some accessory units.

LAND ALLOTMENT

"Of the 1,000 acres allotted for the project, 60-65 per cent will be used for industrial purposes and the rest for setting up common effluent treatment plant and other common facilities besides the green belt. We need all the land," he explained.

Asked a specific question about how long the project would take for completion, he said the State Government would have to provide the power, water and roads.

INFRASTRUCTURE

"The infrastructure should be in place by May-June 2007 and from then it may take five more years for the completion of the project. There need not be any doubts about the employment generation," he said.

On the scale of investment, he said the company would have to invest $40 million for setting up the facilities in the park and the ultimate total projected investment may be $1.5 billion.

Mr Sudan said the first batch of trainees would start production by January, 2007.

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