Six states viz., Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana account for more than two-thirds of all the SEZs approved. The fact that these are among the more developed states has added to consensus that SEZ scheme could further tilt economic development on favour of these states. Recent trends, particularly from the IT sector, reveal that companies are opting against setting-up new units in the domestic tariff area thereby favoring SEZs. In the rush towards SEZs, backward states remain ignored.
In Tamil Nadu, the going has been smooth as the government has stayed away from high yielding areas. Mahindra World City, on the outskirts of Chennai, is India’s first private sector SEZ. Other SEZs include Nokia SEZ on the Sriperumbudur belt and Flextronics SEZ. These SEZs are genuinely in manufacturing business.
In Maharashtra, Reliance Group’s two SEZs – the Navi Mumbai SEZ (NMSEZ) and the Mumbai SEZ (MSEZ) hold high expectations.
In Gujarat, a private sector SEZ in an area of 3500 hectares at Pipavav has become operational. In Jamnagar, Reliance Industries is setting up an SEZ on 4,500 hectares and has acquired major portion of the land, Adani Group is setting up a big multi-product SEZ at Mundra in Kutch.
In West Bengal, land acquisition has become a bone of contention. Acquiring a mere 1000 acres at Singur in Hoogly district where TATA Motor’ s car factory is coming up is plagued with controversies. Three prominent SEZs are coming up: two plots of 12,000 acres and 10,500 acres at Haldia and another of 2,500 acres at Siliguri.
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