AHMEDABAD: Exports from Dahej Special Economic Zone in Gujarat will cross the Rs 1,000 crore during the current fiscal as more of its units have commenced production recently, said
SEZ officials. So far 60 companies have invested Rs 7,500 crore in the SEZ, of which six companies with combined investment of more than Rs 800 crore have commenced production and registered exports worth Rs 436 crore in the previous fiscal.
Projects of organic chemical manufacturer Rallis India , insulation products manufacturer Roxul Rockwool and plastics chemicals manufacturer Indofil chemicals came on stream recently.
"With more investments pouring in and more companies reaching the production stage, we expect the exports to cross Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal," Dahej SEZ CEO R J Shah told ET. Investments totaling Rs 35,000 crore are expected in Dahej SEZ. Developers expect the SEZ will witness exports worth Rs 75,000 crore every year when all the units start production.
Roxul Rockwill has invested Rs 150 crore for manufacturing insulating materials, Indofil has pumped in Rs 135 crore for producing plastic chemicals, Japanese company DIC Finechem has invested Rs 203 crore for producing ink. Similarly, manufacturer of high pressure seamless steel Sarju Impex Limited has invested Rs 56 crore in the SEZ. Panama Petrochem Limited, manufacturer and exporter of petroleum speciality products, has invested Rs 35 crore. Another company Firmenich Aromatics Production India Private Limited, a producer of perfumery and flavoured chemicals, has invested Rs 246 crore in the SEZ.
Rallis India's manufacturing facility for organic chemicals at the SEZ went on stream earlier this month. With an investment of Rs 175 crore in the first phase, the company has targeted exports worth Rs 600 crore in three years, said a senior official of the Tata group company.
The company also expects business revenue from contract manufacturing to go up manifold in the next few years. Currently, 11 per cent of its total revenue comes from contract manufacturing. "We want to raise our turnover from Rs 1,100 crore to over Rs 5,000 crore in seven years. We will export through contract manufacturing. We will be producing herbicides, pesticides and insecticides according to the demand of our clients," Y J Rao, head (Technology), of Rallis told ET.
Dahej SEZ, a joint venture between Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is developed over 1,700 hectare and is a part of Dahej Petroleum Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR), spread over 453 sq km in Bharuch near the Gulf of Khambhat. The PCPIR is expected to attract investments worth Rs 2.27 lakh crore. ONGC Petro-additions Limited (OPaL) is an anchor unit investing Rs 13,000 crore for a petrochemical complex in the SEZ, where 42 industrial units have been allotted land.
Dahej SEZ topped among 25 Economic Zones among 700 Global Economic Zones surveyed by business publication Financial Times. It is the only multi-product SEZ from India to achieve this distinction.
The Board of Approvals for SEZs has approved 60 SEZs in Gujarat. Of which 3 are functional, 13 are notified and functional, 17 are notified, 15 have received formal approval while 12 have received in-principle approval.
Sector wise two SEZ are in apparel and textile sectors each, 6 in engineering, 2 in food processing, 15 in IT and ITES, 11 are multi product, 4 in pharma, while one each in non conventional energy, biotech, ceramics, glass, agro-based chemicals, chemicals, electronics, energy, flat steel, gems and jewellery, industrial machinery, multi-services, multi-product, oil and gas, plastic and polymer. The BoA has given approval to these SEZs.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com