The SEZ Board of Approvals (BoA) of India, since the time SEZ rules havecome into place, hasapproved 18 SEZs in the pharmaceuticals andbiotechnology sector, either formally or in-principle. Of the 18 SEZs, whichobtained the favourable approvals, twelve SEZs are for pharmaceuticals andsix are for biotechnology SEZs. Thirteen have been formal approvals and fivehave been in-principle approvals.

In the pharmaceuticals front, Divi's Laboratories has been approved toestablish a SEZ in Chippada village near Visakhapatnam in an area of 101hectares, Serum Institute has been approved to set up a SEZ in Pune in 21hectares, while Ranbaxy will come up with a SEZ in Mohali in 32 hectares.Zydus has been formally approved for a SEZ in 48 hectares in Ahmedabad.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has been formallyapproved to set up a SEZ for pharmaceuticals at Krushnoor in DistrictNanded, Maharashtra in 150 hectares and another SEZ at Shendre in DistrictAurangabad, Maharashtra in 107 hectares. Ramky Pharma City (India) got theformal approval for a pharma SEZ at Village Lemarthi in DistrictVisakhapatnam in 243 hectares.

Hetero Drugs has obtained a formal approval to set up a pharma SEZ in anarea of 100 hectares at Narsapuram in District Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh.CPL Infrastructure will also set up a SEZ near Ahmedabad in 200 hectares.Meditab Specialties has been accorded formal approval to set up a pharma andchemicals SEZ in Goa to be developed in an area of 123.2 hectares.

Jubilant Organosys received an in-principle approval for pharma SEZ to beestablished in Gujarat in an area of 160 hectares. Whereas, OverseasInfrastructure Alliance (India) has obtained an in-principle approval forsetting up a SEZ at Chhata in District Mathura, Uttar Pradesh in 100hectares.

Biocon has been formally approved to set up a biotech SEZ in Bangalore in 36hectares, while MIDC has been approved to establish a BT SEZ at Jalna inMaharashtra in 40.33 hectares. Mahindra Gesco Developers also receivedformal approval to set up a biotech SEZ near Thane in an area of 28hectares.

Jubilant Organosys has received an in-principle approval for a BT SEZ inMysore in about 11 hectares, while Parsvanath Developers also obtainedin-principle nod to set up a bio-pharma SEZ at Tattanaram Village in RangaReddy District of Andhra Pradesh in 10.11 hectares. Enfield Realtorsobtained an in-principle approval to set up a biotech SEZ at Panagarh,Burdwan District, West Bengal, in an area of 10 hectares.

As per current approvals, about 1,500 hectares are likely to come underpharma and biotech SEZs in India. States such as Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka have obtained five, four, three and twoapprovals respectively while Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal haveobtained one approval each.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Report for the year 2005-06has praised the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Scheme, saying that " thesimplification of procedures and tax breaks as envisaged by the (SEZ) Act(2005) are expected to attract investments of about Rs 1,00,000 crore andhelp create 500,000 jobs".

It further stated that "In order to instill confidence in investors andsignal the government's commitment to a stable Special Economic Zone (SEZ)policy regime, a comprehensive Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, Act hasbeen enacted. The SEZ Act 2005, which came into force on February 10, 2006is expected to facilitate large flow of foreign and domestic investment tothe SEZs, and contribute to improvements in infrastructure and productivecapacity, generation of additional economic activity and creation ofemployment opportunities".

The Commerce Ministry's assessment indicates that SEZs (of all industries,in addition to pharma and biotech) are likely to create large scale directand indirect employment. The total employment that would be created byDecember 2007 is 5, 00,000. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of the order of Rs 25,000 crore (US $ 5 to 6 billion) is also expected by the end ofDecember 2007 in infrastructure development of the SEZs and in setting up ofthe units in the zones.