New state industrial policy to facilitate townships in SEZs

MUMBAI: The new industrial policy of Maharashtra , which was unveiled on Thursday, helps developers of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) de-notify land and set up Integrated Industrial Areas (IIAs) which will allow development of townships, including residential buildings. “Maharashtra’s growth has been the fastest in the country. In the past policy, we had planned to attract investments worth Rs 2,80,000 crore.

In this policy, the target is Rs 5,00,000 crore. We are giving developers a chance to de-notify their SEZs and build IIAs,” said state industry minister Narayan Rane. “This will allow developers to use 60% land within the SEZ area for industrial purpose and 40% land for non-industrial purpose which includes building townships and developing social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals,” he added.

“About 124 SEZs in the state have not really taken off. There are about 29,000 hectares of land. Of this, about 16,000 hectares has been acquired privately so that it can be part of the new IIA, provided all policy conditions are met,” said state industry secretary Manukumar Srivastav.

ULTRA-MEGA PROJECTS

The policy also allows the formation of giant industrial zones which will be categorised as ‘Ultra-Mega Industrial Projects’ . Announcing the key features of the new five-year industrial policy, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said, “The larger goal is to achieve faster economic growth, especially in the manufacturing sector by attracting investment and creating new employment.

Manufacturing is expected to grow at 28% by the end of these five years. We are the first state in the country to initiate formation of Ultra-Mega Industrial Projects which will have an investment of more than Rs 1,500 crore and will employ more than 3,000 people in each project.”

CII WELCOMES MOVE

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the policy. Pradeep Bhargava, CII chairman of the western region, said, “One of the mainstays of the policy is creation of integral industrial townships and the SEZ exit plan which envisages release of de-notified SEZ land proposed to be converted into integrated industrial townships.”

“This addresses one of the most crucial issues of land availability for industry,” he added. Satish Jamdar, chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council, also acknowledged the effort to boost industrial production and complimented the state for offering special rebates, waivers in electricity , stamp duty and relaxation in VAT for units planning to set up shops in under-developed areas of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

“These steps will bolster development in these areas and will pave the way for more industries to set up establishments in the near future,” said Jamdar.