K. T. Jaganathan

Chennai, July. 31: SPEL Semiconductor Limited (SPEL) has been given the go-ahead to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) to promote electronic hardware manufacturing. The SEZ will come up on a 25.2 acre land it owns adjacent to its plant at Marimalainagar, near here. The SEZ, sources said, was hoping to attract investment in excess of Rs. 2,000 crore over a period of time. ``The nod for developing SEZ will enable SPEL to grow the eco-system in the region, which will, in turn lead to intrinsic benefits to SPEL,'' said a release from the company

SPEL is the country's first and only semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) assembly and test facility. SPEL ICs are used globally in consumer electronic applications such as cell phones, desktop PCs, notebook computers, automobiles, and digital cameras.

The company, in the meanwhile, reported revenues of Rs. 149.30 millions for the first quarter ended June 2007, up by 21 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter revenues of Rs.123.08 millions during the previous year. The net profit of Rs. 6.05 millions for the first quarter is down by 11.93 per cent from Rs. 6.87 millions during the same period last year due to the appreciation of the rupee, says the release.