Nod given to 14 SEZs in Telangana, AP may be cancelled

Hyderabad, Feb 18: Ministry of Commerce could cancel formal approvals given for setting up as many as 14 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) by Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Ltd (DILL), a company floated by erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

According to the agenda set by Board of Approval (BoA) under Commerce Ministry, 12 SEZs are located in Telangana, while the remaining two are in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The BoA, which is scheduled to meet on February 20, is expected to take a decision on the future course of action regarding these SEZs.

"Formal approval expired. The Developer is a State Government body. The Developer was informed in the meetings held on 21.09.2012 and 7.02.2013 that cancellation of formal approval will be taken up as no progress has been made."

"They failed to even submit any concrete proposal or action plan. No progress has been made either to notify the SEZs or implement the SEZ projects. DC (Development Commissioner) has, accordingly, recommended removal of all the approved SEZs of DILL from the approved list," BoA said regarding one of the SEZs.

DILL is a Company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, as a subsidiary of Andhra Pradesh Housing Board (APHB) before bifurcation. APHB holds 57.44 per cent of the Equity and Government of Andhra Pradesh (before bifurcation) is holding 42.56 per cent equity.

The Equity holding of APHB and the Government has come by way of transfer of their respective lands, DILL website said. Officials of DILL could not be reached when tried on telephone numbers provided on its website.

According to information provided on the website, the entity has 6,819 acres of land bank in Telangana. DILL had earlier obtained approvals from the Ministry for setting up SEZs in sectors such as IT/ITES, pharma, gems and jewellery and engineering.

In a similar case, the Development Commissioner has recommended cancellation of the approval given to AP Markfed, another state government body for setting up SEZ in Karimnagar in Telangana for failing to make any progress in the project, the BoA said.

PTI