Wipro seeks more time from government to complete its SEZ in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: IT major Wipro Ltd has sought one more year from the Commerce Ministry to complete its IT/ITeS special economic zone in Tamil Nadu.


The 19-member inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), headed by Commerce Secretary S R Rao, will consider the request in its meeting on November 8.

The developer was granted letter of permission (LoP) on 4th December, 2007 for setting up of the unit at Vilankurichi, Coimbatore.

"Thereafter the developer has been granted three extensions by Development Commissioner, Madras Special Economic Zone and three extensions by BoA, validity of which is upto 3rd December 2013.

"The unit has applied for further extension of its validity period by one year so as to complete the project," the agenda note of the BoA meeting said.

Till date, the unit has already invested Rs 70.9 crore. "The unit is ready to commence operation by 4th quarter of 2013-14 and plans to start production by May, 2014," it added.

Wipro Ltd, India's third largest software services exporter, has reported a 20 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,932.1 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, aided by currency depreciation and an uptick in client spending.

Besides Wipro, eight other developers have also requested for extension of their LoP.

These developers include ONGC Mangalore Petro Chemicals Ltd, Embedded IT Solutions, Sterling Biotech Ltd and Colour Chips New Media Ltd.

SEZs are key export hubs which contribute about 30 per cent of country's overall exports.

However, these zones started loosing sheen after the global meltdown and imposition of minimum alternate tax.

As many as 58 SEZ developers had surrendered projects due to various reasons till July 31. Exports from SEZs grew by about 31 per cent to Rs 4.76 lakh crore during 2012-13.