At a time when the Centre has given final approval to 362 special economic zones that are expected to attract a total investment of Rs 300,000 crore, the country’s poorest state — Bihar — is yet to come up with any SEZ proposal.

Bihar does not figure at all in the list of SEZs that have been given either formal or in-principle clearance by the Board of Approval. In sharp contrast, the Board has cleared a total of 550 proposals across 20 major states.

The 362 SEZs that have received formal nod are expected to attract investment of Rs 300,000 crore and create jobs for 40 lakh people, according to commerce ministry estimates.

“There has not been any proposal from Bihar backed by the state government… it seems to be their conscious policy,” a central government official said.

Bihar has remained an SEZ-free state as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led government is believed to have taken a decision to avoid any controversy due to land acquisition. Farmers in several other states such as neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have protested land acquisition for SEZs and other industrial activities.

Uttar Pradesh has also pressed the pause button on sending fresh proposals to the Centre, pending review of these projects by the new government led by chief minister Mayawati.

Ever since Mayawati took charge, she has stopped forwarding any applications, the official said.

As per the SEZ Rules, the Board of Approval cannot give formal clearance to any proposal unless the land has been acquired and it has the backing of the state government. On the other hand, Maharashtra leads the tally with 126 approvals, followed by Andhra Pradesh (109) and Tamil Nadu (82). The other states from where SEZ proposals have come in droves include Haryana (64), Karnataka (69) and Gujarat (49).

Electronic hardware and IT/ITeS zones dominate the list of SEZs, with as many as 340 projects being set up in these sectors. This is followed by textile, pharma, biotech and multiproduct zones.

Of the 362 SEZs with formal approval, 135 have been notified and many of these have started operations. According to government estimates, an investment of Rs 43,123 crore has been made in these 135 notified zones where more than 35,000 people have been directly employed.

These notified zones are expected to attract a total of 2,59,159 crore of investment by December 2009, and create jobs for 17.43 lakh people. Commerce Secretary G K Pillai on Tuesday said the government was expecting exports of nearly Rs 150,000 crore from all SEZs by 2008-09.