The Hindu : Front Page : Coimbatore gets ready for Special Economic Zones

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Monday, Sep 03, 2007
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Coimbatore gets ready for Special Economic Zones

M. Soundariya Preetha

Good infrastructure expected to come up will help in consolidating exports
One drawback is that the nearest port is Kochi

COIMBATORE: If all goes well, Coimbatore district may see at least a handful of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) operational in the next few years.

The district has four sector specific (IT and IT-enabled services) SEZs notified as on 31 July 2007.

Two SEZ proposals (in high technology engineering and electronic hardware) have formal approval, and one proposal (for textiles) has in-principle approval, according to data available on the SEZ website.

These are likely to have more companies from other cities setting up shop in Coimbatore, says Jayakumar Ramdass, former chairman of the local chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Coimbatore, with the presence of large number of engineering and textile units, has inherent strengths. It has skilled labour and the vendor units.

For those in tier-I cities, establishing facilities in a tier-II city will be viable in terms of land price too. “A tier-II city SEZ will be a great opportunity to these units,” he adds.

The district also has its challenges in terms of infrastructure. The nearest port is Kochi, which is about three-and-a-half hours drive. But the SEZs should also have the back up of world class infrastructure.

The developers should look at providing state-of-the-art facilities within the SEZ as the interested companies will expect these, he adds.

Once operational, the SEZs will provide “great opportunity for the local units.” A large volume of supplementary components can be supplied to those in the SEZs.

“SEZ is a relatively new concept and its entry into Coimbatore will result in more employment generation,” adds C.N. Ashok, vice-chairman of the CII, Coimbatore Zone.

This can lead to local units establishing dedicated ancillary facilities for the SEZ companies. Coimbatore accounts for a lot of exports. Good infrastructure that will come with the SEZs should make a difference and will help in consolidating these exports, he adds.

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