The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : SIDCO wants 250 acres reserved for small scale units in SEZs

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Friday, Aug 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

SIDCO wants 250 acres reserved for small scale units in SEZs

Priscilla Jebaraj

In-principle agreement given
Plan to set up at least 9 more SEZs

Chennai: Small scale export-oriented units will have 250 acres reserved for them in the Special Economic Zones coming up in Nanguneri and Ennore, according to a senior official of the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO).

“SIDCO had asked for 250 acres to be set aside [for small scale units] in these SEZs and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has given in-principle agreement. We have made the same request for all the new SEZs coming up in the State,” said the official.

TIDCO plans to set up at least 9 more SEZs across the State.

The official said a number of small pharmaceutical exporters from Alathur had expressed interest in setting up units in the reserved area at Nanguneri SEZ, which contains a pharma park. Small export-oriented manufacturers in the Guindy and Ambattur industrial estates were also considering the offer.

While Nanguneri is a 2600-acre multi-product SEZ in Tirunelveli district, Ennore is spread over 2560 acres near the Ennore port, north of Chennai in Tiruvallur district.

The official said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would also get some space in the estates run by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) for large manufacturers. SIPCOT had agreed to set aside 20 per cent of land in all its new estates for the use of SIDCO units. This had been a long-standing demand of SMEs, who felt it would improve their position as component suppliers for larger manufacturers.

However, this would not apply to existing SIPCOT estates, and therefore, the proposed SIDCO estate in Oragadam would not be possible, said the official. This was one of the 11 new estates that the Small Industries Ministry had proposed for 2007-08.

The first SIDCO estate in Dharmapuri district is set for development after the district Collector gave prior entry permission to the site in Kadahathur on Thursday. The estate, which will be a cluster of garment manufacturing units, will initially be set up on 10 acres in Kadahathur with 50 more acres available for development.

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