Tatas set to start Orissa SEZ

[ 9 Jan, 2007 0003hrs ISTPTI ]


RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

NEW DELHI: The Tatas maybe facing an uphill task getting their small car
project in Singur started, but the group's ambitious Special Economic
Zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur in Orissa is soon set for launch sans any land
acquisition problems.

The Board of Approvals (BoA) for SEZs would meet after a three-month gap
on January 10 and take up for clearance, Tatas proposal for a
multi-product zone involving land in excess of 3,500 acres, sources said.

They said the proposal is likely to be cleared as all the necessary
clearances, including from the security agencies, have come.

The proposal, which had earlier come before the board, was referred to
the security agencies as the proposed zone was close to a security
establishment.

Tatas have proposed an SEZ in Gopalpur on the land which it had
initially acquired for a steel plant. The group later decided to give up
the idea of a steel plant due to lack of proper infrastructure. With the
emergence of fresh opportunities in SEZs, the group wants to use ths
land for its forays in to new areas.

The Gopalpur SEZ is the only one so far for which the Tatas have sought
approval for. Officials made it clear that contrary to reports, the
Tatas project in Singur does not enjoy the status of an SEZ. "Singur has
nothing to do with SEZs," Commerce Ministry officials said.

Along with the proposal of the Tatas, the BoA will take 37 more
proposals mostly from Maharashtra, where state government has already
acquired 150,000 acres for industrialisation.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/Tatas_set_to_start_Orissa_SEZ/articleshow/1101077.cms