SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE OF RELIENCE

Special Economic Zone of Relience

After the MoU for setting up the country’s largest SEZ (25,000 acres) was signed between Anand Jain, one of the directors of RIL, and Rajiv Arora, MD, HSIDC, Mr Ambani said, “What differentiates Haryana from other states is the sheer scale of development. We have a lot of respect for the state government.”

Reliance has incorporated a company by the name of Reliance Haryana SEZ to set up this multi-product zone. For the development of the project, it will enter into an equity arrangement with HSIDC, the ratio of which will be determined shortly. A special committee will be constituted to identify the land for this project. It will comprise two members from HSIDC and two from Reliance.

The land is in the Jhajjar-Bahadurgarh belt. (Villages near Garhi Harsaru (26.6 Kms.) in Gurgaon — Khandsa (29.2 Kms.), Narsinghpur, Mohammedpur, Gadauli and Harsaru and villages of Jhajjar) — Talking to ET Mr Ambani said, “The land would be finalized within two months time and the first benefits of the SEZ would start accruing to the state in 24-30 months. We are keen on an expeditious completion of this project.” As regards the quantum of investment, he said, “There is no cap on investment.

The idea is to develop the critical mass. Development of infrastructure is a continuous process but considering that the project would be developed over an area of 25,000 acres, the investment could anywhere be between Rs 25,000-40,000 crore. The competition of this SEZ will not be with the SEZs of other states. We would be competing with the most favored investment destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and China.”
The SEZ by Reliance would be in addition to nine SEZs already approved in principle by the Central Government in Haryana. Mr Hooda told ET, “Our endeavor is to make Haryana the ‘Numero Uno’ state in the country. The Reliance SEZ would be another feather in our cap. Not only would it bring in a lot of investments, it would translate into direct and indirect employment for around four lakh people.

”In the SEZ, 6,500 acres have been earmarked for low polluting industries, 5,000 acres each for basic infrastructure and commercial establishments, 3,750 acres for residential area, 1,250 acres each for institutional area, leisure and entertainment.
In a conversation with ET Anand Jain, director, RIL said that the SEZ would involve a diverse portfolio of industries. “The areas that could be successfully developed in this SEZ are automobiles, auto components, agro based industry, biotech, IT and garments. We would strive to get the best of the Fortune 500 companies to invest here,” he added.

Reliance Venture Ltd. is developing a 2,000-MW gas-fired project as part of a special economic zone in Haryana State. Haryana Govt. has notified for public objection against environment clearance. A team of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd recently met aviation ministry officials to kick start the proposed cargo airport at their ambitious SEZ project in Jhajjar. The airport and a 2,000-MW power plant were the highlights of the Rs 40,000-crore project that will be spread over 25,000 acres in Gurgaon and Jhajjar.

IL&FS Equity

Last month, (Jan 2011) IL&FS had completed the purchase of a 45% stake in Reliance's Model Economic Township (MET), comprising 10,000 acres of land, in Jhajjar, Haryana.