NEW DELHI: The Central Government on Tuesday approved 34 proposals for setting up special economic zones (SEZs), including two by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories in Andhra Pradesh.

The Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs gave formal clearances to 26 proposals and in-principle nod to eight others out of the 82 proposals considered. With Tuesday's decision, the total number of SEZs with formal approvals has risen to 212 and with in-principle approvals to 152, an official release said. The first proposal from a northeastern State, however, failed to get the nod, with the BoA deferring the Shyam Burlap Company's application for a 1,012 hectare multi-product zone in Kamrup district of Assam.

Among the proposals given formal clearance include the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board's one SEZ for food processing and one pharmaceutical SEZ, Shree Renuka Sugars's sugarcane processing complex in Karnataka and Parsvnath Developers's IT SEZ in Kerala.

Formal nod was also given to TCG Urban Infrastructure Holdings's biotech SEZ in Kerala, APIIC's two biotech and pharma SEZs in Andhra Pradesh, Mayatas Properties Private Ltd's three SEZs in Andhra Pradesh and Emaar Hills Township's IT SEZ in Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories' two applications for pharma SEZs in Andhra Pradesh were given in-principle approval. Other proposals that were given in-principle nod include Hinduja Investments Private Ltd's textile SEZ in Bangalore and Writers and Publishers' 2,000 hectare multi-product SEZ in Chhattisgarh.

Fair deal for farmers

The Centre feels that Special Economic Zones have become controversial as they are because of lack of transparency in fixing prices for acquiring land by state governments.

"Most controversies (over SEZs) could be settled once state governments pursue transparent policies,'' Urban Development Minister, S. Jaipal Reddy, said at a seminar on real estate here on Monday. — PTI

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