IFFCO to set up agriculture, food processing SEZ in AP

HYDERABAD: The Centre is expected to approve on January 2 an SEZ project in Andhra Pradesh by fertiliser cooperative IFFCO for agri and food processing, a senior state government official said.

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans to invest more than Rs 2,000 crore to develop the duty-free enclave in Nellore district on some 2,000 acres, directly generating 10,000 jobs, the official told ET.

Christened the ‘Kisan’ SEZ, it will also house an institute to provide training in agriculture and related technologies and grain storage facilities.

The co-operative has proposed setting up the SEZ on land it acquired from the state government in 1997 for a fertiliser plant.

“However, that plan did not fructify due to the market conditions and the non-availability of feedstock,” he said.

Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of notified SEZs in the country at 48, most of them in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors. A total of 172 such zones had been notified until the end November. More than 400 have received formal approval.

The commerce ministry projects that more than twenty lakh jobs will be generated by December 2009 in the SEZs which have been notified, with investment nearly touching Rs 3 lakh crore.

About Rs 52,000 crore has been invested in SEZs so far while less than 50,000 jobs have been created.