Andhra Pradesh which has 75 notified special economic zones (SEZs), which is the highest number of SEZs in any State in the country, has attracted investment of about Rs 15,000 crore.
These SEZs registered exports of Rs 13,000 crore during the financial year 2010-11 and exports are expected to double during the current financial year, according to statement.
Apart from attracting investment and helping create new infrastructure, these SEZs provided direct employment opportunities to nearly 1.20 lakh people and many more have gained indirect employment.
According to the State Government, Andhra Pradesh is the only State having 5 multi-product SEZs at Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Naidupeta, Nellore and Chittoor. Of these SEZs at Visakhapatnam, Chittoor and Naidupeta have become operational and have begun to attract investments under different categories.
Besides the SEZs, Andhra Pradesh is having 258 export-oriented units, which accounted for exports of about Rs 9,000 crore during 2010-11. These provide employment to nearly 20,000 persons. While EOUs scheme was introduced by the Government of India in 1980, they are at liberty to set up their unit at any location of their choice.
In order to encourage SEZ developers and EOUs, export awards for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 were announced on Monday. Eighty-six awards were announced.
DLF, Aurobindo Pharma, Solar Semiconductor, Wipro, Rain CII Carbon, APIIC are among the list of awardees for their performance.