The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Approval for SEZs in a month: Kamal Nath

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 02, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Approval for SEZs in a month: Kamal Nath

Staff Reporter

Sindhia seeks clearance for product-specific zones

BANGALORE: Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, on Friday gave an assurance that the special economic zones (SEZs) in Karnataka would be approved in a month.

He was responding to a memorandum presented to him by the Minister for Industries, P.G.R. Sindhia, during the inauguration of the new import cargo complex here. Mr. Kamal Nath said he would expedite the approval of the SEZs.

Earlier, Mr. Sindhia urged the Union Minister to approve product-specific SEZs for textiles at Hassan and sector-specific SEZ for information technology in Mangalore. The proposals are pending before the Board of Approval.

He said the State contributed about 37 per cent to the country's services' export, thanks to the State's IT exports worth Rs. 30,000 crores a year.

Representation on panels

He demanded measures to ensure representation to Karnataka on the committees proposed to be constituted at various levels, including Special Economic Zone Authority, under the SEZ Bill 2005. Adequate representation for the State would ensure better development and operation of SEZs in the State, he said. Mr. Sindhia also sought approval of the schemes proposed by the State under the Industrial Upgradation Scheme of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The schemes included setting up of industry valves cluster in Hubli (Rs. 40 crores), automobiles and automobile components cluster in Shimoga (Rs. 58.63 crores), daal industry cluster in Gulbarga (Rs. 43.56 crores) and coir industry cluster in Channapatna or Hassan (Rs. 23.27 crores). r. Kamal Nath said about 400 per cent of India's trade took place by air and the international cargo handled by the Indian airports was expected to grow by seven per cent in the next decade.

The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, appreciated the progress of the Mysore Sales International Ltd., which runs the cargo complex.

E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Union Minister of State for Commerce; Ramalinga Reddy, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education; and K.V. Venkataramaiah Setty, Chairman, MSIL; were present.

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