"No policy decision to drop SEZ proposal": Harichandan

Bhubaneswar, Mar 29 (UNI) Orissa Industry Minister Biswa Bhusan Harichandan today said the government has not taken any policy decision to drop the SEZ proposal at Kalinga Nagar Industrial complex in Jajpur district.

Referring to newspaper reports that the state has dropped the SEZ proposal at Kalinga Nagar, Mr Harichandan said due to some internal problem of the state-owned Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) the proposal to have SEZ at Kalinga Nagar has been stopped for the time being.

He, however, made it clear that at present there is no such proposal to cancel the SEZ at Kalinga Nagar.

The Minister in a written reply to BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain yesterday said the state government had received as many as 17 proposals for setting up of SEZ in the state of which the Centre has accorded formal approval to five SEZs and in principle to eight more SEZs.

The five SEZs that received approval from the Centre were SEZ at Infocity, SEZ at Knowledge Park, both in Bhubaneswar, SEZ for metallurgical-based engineering and downstream at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district, SEZ at Mancheswar for IT industries and SEZ for Stainless Steel and ancillary downstream industries at Dubri.

Mr Harichandan said 250 acres of land for SEZ at Kalinga Nagar has already been acquired by the IDCO.

UNI