Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli

Nanguneri SEZ gets the final nod

Delayed beginning: Road work commenced on the Nanguneri multi-product Special Economic Zone site on Tuesday.

TIRUNELVELI: Union Commerce Ministry has at last released the final notification giving its nod for the proposal of establishing multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nanguneri, about 35 km from here on the Tirunelveli – Nagnuneri National Highway.

Following the release of notification by the Central government, which should have been originally released in last May 2, work on laying the inner roads of the site acquired for the Rs. 14,000-crore project commenced on Tuesday.

To speed-up the infrastructure development activities, a high-level delegation from the State government is likely to visit the site during this weekend.

After the foundation stone was laid in February 2001, the project remained a non-starter as successive investors backed out or they were unable to commence work because of the huge investment required for developing the SEZ.

After the facilitator of the project, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), identified the AMR Group as the new partner to develop this ambitious project that will literally transform the face of the district, Memorandum of Understanding was signed on April 10 last.

While AMR Group will have a controlling stake of 68 per cent, the existing partner, California-based INFAC Management Corporation, which floated the Advanced Technology Manufacturing and Assembly City (ATMAC) exclusively for developing the Nanguneri SEZ, will have 31 per cent. And TIDCO will have the remaining 1 per cent stake.

Though it was decided initially that this SEZ would be based on the industry-specific cluster model and seven broad products were identified, it was abandoned later and it will be a multi-product SEZ, for which bhoomi puja was performed on April 30.

The SEZ will have light manufacturing, design and assembly facilities, modern infrastructure facilities and extensive amenities to employ about 70,000 persons directly. As work on laying broad inner roads commenced on Tuesday, other activities such as levelling of the surface, removal of small hillocks on the project site is likely to follow in the ensuing weeks. A huge underpass beneath the Nanguneri – Ervadi road will be constructed to connect the project sites on both sides of this stretch.

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