Punjab set to join SEZ league

With neighbouring Haryana having given in-principle approval to 57 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) proposals, 12 notified and 5 functional, Punjab is getting its act together to set the ball rolling.

With the state all set to enact the SEZ Act by this December, formal approval has been given to four SEZ projects, namely Rs 772.5 crore Vividha Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Rs 897.5 crore Mridul Infrastructure Pvt Ltd both at Rajpura, Rs 719 crore Sukhmani Towers at Derabassi and Rs 540 crore Lark Projects at Mohali. Two other SEZs have already been notified.

However, uncertainty remains regarding the proposed DLF SEZ, the first in the state, which was to come up in Amritsar. In March last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had launched DLF Universal’s SEZ project. The DLF and the Punjab Government signed an MoU and the project was to come up on 1,000 acres of land with an investment of Rs 453.69 crore. But so far no work has begun.