The board of approval (BoA) of the special economic zones (SEZs) on Wednesday gave approval in principle for a multi-product SEZ to be set up by Ispat Industries Ltd. Total investment on the project, to come up at Raigad in Maharashtra, is likely to be around Rs 10,000 crore.
Ispat would invest in the acquisition and development of about 3,000 acres in Raigad and would then invite companies to set up export-oriented units in sectors such as metal processing, engineering industry, automobile and auto parts and aluminum and copper processing. Once the proposed project was fully occupied and functional, it was likely to garner an export turnover of over $1.2 billion over five years, sources in the company said.
The multi-product SEZ location is just 17 km from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and is also close to Ispat?s 3.6-million-tonne (mt) integrated steel plant in the same district. The Raigad project, once fully functional, would generate direct employment for over 100,000 people besides indirect employment opportunities for several thousands of people.
Besides steel, the company has interests in chemicals, electronics, textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, leather goods and food processing. It has recently announced a Rs 2,000-crore capacity expansion plan for its steel plant at Dolvi from the current 3.6 mt to 5.6 mt. It has also singed MoUs with the governments of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to set up a1,200-mw power plant and 2.8-mt steel plant, respectively.
The company is also waiting for mineral policy to be announced, following which it could apply for captive iron ore mines. The BoA also gave approval in principle for a biotech SEZ to be developed by Veritas Infrastructure Development Ltd.