The Hindu Business Line : Three SEZs, one airport to come up in Maharashtra

More SEZs
Two special SEZs will only produce power and supply to other SEZs in the State.
At Kagal in Kolhapur, a textile SEZ is being planned, while the proposed new airport will come up at Sindhudurg.

LANDMARK PACT: (From left) Mr Shailesh Pathak, Head, PPP Initiative, IDFC; Mr V.K. Jairath, Principal Secretary, Industries, Maharashtra; Mr Ashok Chavan, State Minister for Industries; and Mr Rajiv Jalota, CEO, MIDC, after signing the agreements in Mumbai on Thursday. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai , Jan. 11

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) on Thursday signed four agreements with Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC) and Feedback Ventures for developing three Special Economic Zones and one airport in the State.

Of the three SEZs, two are special SEZs that will only produce power and supply to other SEZs in the State. The power SEZs are coming up at Usar in Raigad district with a capacity of 250 megawatts and Bhadrawati in Chandrapur district with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. At Kagal in Kolhapur, a textile SEZ is being planned, while the proposed new airport will come up at Sindhudurg.

Public-private tie up

The four ventures will be developed under India Infrastructure Initiative, which is being jointly promoted by IDFC and Feedback Ventures. The Initiative will undertake project preparation and partner selection for four projects, which would develop as public private partnership. IDFC holds 20 per cent stake in Feedback Ventures.

The Usar SEZ, which will be located about 12 km from Alibag in Raigad, will come up on 103 hectare area and is expected to attract investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The Bhadrawati SEZ, located 26 km from Chandrapur, will come up on 1,100 hectares and is expected to attract investment of Rs 4,000 crore. The textile SEZ will come up on 104 hectares at Kagal in Kolhapur, well-known textile centre of the State. It is expected to attract Rs 230 crore of investment.

The airport at Sindhudurg is being developed in order to attract tourists. The area is scenic and there are beaches similar to Goa. The airport will be located 25 km from Kudal city and will come up on 306 hectares. The project is expected to attract Rs 507 crore of investment.

Centre's permission

Mr Rajiv Jalota, CEO of MIDC, speaking to the media after signing the agreements said that the Union Power Ministry has given approval for power SEZs in the State. The power produced from these SEZs would be wheeled to other SEZs, which are coming up all over the State.

The surplus power would be sold to other utilities at rates higher then the SEZ rate. Power plants at Bhadrawati SEZ would be coal-based, while Usar will have flexibility of opting for coal or gas base plants. About 100 MW of power from Usar has already been tied up, he said.

Mr Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman of Feedback Ventures, said that the India Infrastructure Initiative offers a "no-cost" solution to the Government and its undertakings. The Initiative will handhold them through the process of project preparation and partner selection for the identified infrastructure projects.

For its services to create a pool of bankable infrastructure projects, the Initiative does not charge the Government. Instead, it recovers its costs from the selected private sector partners for the projects, he said.

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