NEW DELHI, INDIA: The government today cleared 11 new proposals to set up special economic zones, five of which are related to information technology and based in Karnataka, including those of Infosys and Wipro.
Wipro has got the approval to set up two SEZs, one in Bangalore and another in Mysore district. Infosys has got the government's nod to set a SEZ in Bangalore.
Formal approval has been granted for setting up 10 SEZs while in-principle approval has been given to a chemicals and pharmaceuticals SEZ by Vivimed Labs in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, according to an official statement said.
So far 577 formal approvals have been granted for setting up of SEZs, out of which 363 have been notified.
In its meeting here, the inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) also approved India's largest stainless steel producer JSL's proposal to surrender its sector-specific SEZ in Orissa.
The board, headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, also gave the nod to realty major Raheja Universal Ltd's request to surrender its SEZ in Maharashtra, Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary D K Mittal said.
Infosys Technologies' IT SEZ would come up in an area of 24.4 hectares in Karnataka, while Wipro Ltd got approval to set up two IT/ITeS tax-free enclaves over 19.4 and 29.9 hectares in the state.
The Centre has also given additional time to 37 SEZ developers, including Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra and Ansal SEZ Projects, to execute their projects, he said.