After the initial mad rush for SEZs, withdrawal symptoms seem to have set in. The attraction seems to have dimmed. SEZ developers have not only been facing opposition from local farmers who refused to give up their land for projects, but also had to realign and reduce project sizes in face of stiff opposition. The Videocon SEZ at Pune has already been scrapped, the Mahindra & Mahindra SEZ at Karla near Pune and the Bharat Forge SEZ at Rajgurunagar had to be resized. But there seems to be few takers for the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) promoted SEZ at Jalna. MIDC has decided to pull out of this project and has approached the Board of Approval (BoA) in the commerce ministry with an application to pull out this SEZ.
This was meant to be a 40.33-hectare zone for biotechnology companies. However, response from companies have been poor, MIDC officials said. MIDC had already acquired land for the project, but since the project is located in a hilly terrain and the climate was not considered suitable by investors, MIDC was unable to lure companies to come to this region, officials revealed.
This is not the case with Maharashtra alone. Another nine promoters of special economic zones in several states including Punjab and Tamil Nadu are seeking permission from the BoA to pull out of their projects in the wake of slump in demand for commercial space. The BoA was to meet on October 5 to discuss this issue. The board will also be taking up application of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Mumbai SEZ for seeking a third extension for validity of its in-principle approval that was granted in 2006. So far, a total of 579 SEZs have been approved and 335 of them are notified nationally.
Meanwhile, the MIDC is going ahead with its eight other projects in the state. These include the Rajiv Gandhi Tech Park at Hinjewadi of around 223 hectares, 110-hectare engineering and electronics goods SEZ at Shendra in Aurangabad, 111-hectare engineering SEZ at Khandala in Satara district, 103-hectare textile SEZ at Chincholi in Solapur, a 141-hectare pharma SEZ at Lote Parshuram in Ratnagiri, and 103-hectare engineering SEZ at Phaltan. Two additional SEZs have been proposed in Chakan for a 100-hectare R&D SEZ and a 30 hectare BT SEZ at Ranjangaon. Officials said the Chincholi, Ratnagiri and Phaltan SEZs were in the final stages of notification.
In addition to the PPP and joint venture model for SEZs, MIDC is also looking at another model where it would offer NOCs to companies, which could then approach the BoA seeking permission to be notified as a SEZ. So far, 15 companies in the IT sector in Pune region have been given NOCs.
Pune leads the state with 13 SEZs being notified as against total of 43 SEZs. Nearly 664 hectare is being notified and an investment of Rs 8,842 crore so far, according to sources in the industries department.