Videocon Realty & Infrastructure Ltd has sought the Centre's permission to withdraw its proposed 10 hectare-IT/ITeS Special Economic Zone at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
“The developer has requested for withdrawal of formal approval stating that the company is not able to implement the project owing to the latest business outlook of the region,” a Commerce Ministry document said.
“The request of the developer for withdrawal of formal approval is placed before the (SEZ) Board of Approval (BoA) for consideration,” it added. The project was granted formal approval (after it had obtained the required land) in May 2009.
The inter-ministerial board, headed by the Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, will take up the application along with others during the meeting slated for January 24.
The development comes amid problems faced by the industry in the State due to land and regulatory issues. In this regard, the Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, had recently convened a meeting in Kolkata with industrialists.
Meanwhile, Larsen & Toubro Ltd has also approached the Centre for denotification of its 11 hectare IT/ITeS SEZ at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
As reason for request to allow the project to be scrapped, the developer cited “economic unavailability in the changed economic scenario”.
Meanwhile, two DLF firms (DLF Assets Pvt Ltd and DLF Utilities Ltd) have sought withdrawal of co-developer status in an IT/ITeS SEZ project in Pune stating that the market condition is not conducive.
Many developers including Parsvnath SEZ Ltd, Pidilite Industrial Ltd, Wipro Ltd and ONGC have sought more time for execution of their projects.
Amid this gloomy picture, TCS, Cochin Port Trust and Kakinada SEZ Pvt Ltd have applied to set up IT/ITeS SEZ in Madhya Pradesh, Free Trade Warehousing Zone near Kochi and multi-product SEZ in Andhra Pradesh, respectively.