DIL plans SEZs

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The state-owned Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Limited (DIL) will set up 13 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) around Hyderabad. The 13 SEZs will come up in a total extent of 530 hectares. DIL, in which the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board holds 57.67 per cent equity and the Government of AndhraPradesh (GoAP) 42.33 per cent, will soon enter into a joint development agreement with private parties to develop the SEZs. The joint development partners will be chosen through a competitive bidding process, a highly-placed DIL official said. Five of the SEZs will be of information technology and information technology-enabled services and two of Free Trade Warehousing. One SEZ each will be for textile, apparels and fashion accessories, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, gems and jewellery, bio-technology, farm machinery and electronic hardware and software, according toDIL sources. The Board of Approvals under the Union Ministry of Commerce has approved the DIL's proposals to set up these SEZs. DIL is currently working on details related to the likely investments in each SEZ and the number of jobs that will be created. "Over the next two to three years, these SEZs will change the profile of Andhra Pradesh and give a major boost to the various sectors. We have further plans to develop more SEZs in collaboration with private partners," a DIL official said.The company will soon go public to raise funds from the capital market through an initial public offer. The book-building process for this is currently underway, official sources said.