Cochin Special Economic Zone

Last updated

Cochin Special Economic Zone
Company typeGovernment owned
IndustryMulti-product industrial park
GenreInfrastructure service provider
Founded1984
Headquarters,
Number of locations
160+
Owner Government of India
Number of employees
15,000+
Website www.csez.com

The Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) is a multi-product special economic zone located at Kochi, Kerala. It is established in an area of 41.7 hectares (103.0 acres) in Kakkanad.

Contents

It is a multi-product zone, with industrial units operating in Electronics Hardware, Engineering, Gem & Jewellery, IT & ITES, Agro & Food Processing, Textile & garments, Plastic & Rubber etc. Currently it has around 160 units operating employing more than 15,000 people. [1] In FY2011-12, the total exports from the zone stood at 29,961 crore, recording a 63% rise in exports compared to the previous financial year. [2]

For the current financial year 2012-13, as on 30 September 2012, the total exports from CSEZ stand at 16,306 crore, ranking it the third among SEZs in the country. [3]

CSEZ was originally started as one of the first Export Processing Zone in India, and was later converted into a Special Economic Zone in 2003, when that system was introduced. [4] It is operated by the Government of India, Ministry of Commerce, under the CSEZ Authority, and headed by a Development Commissioner. It is the first integrated industrial park in Kerala.

The land area of the existing zone in Kochi has been fully utilized for ir. [5] As part of expansion of CSEZ, a proposal to set up phase II of the Zone in 125 acres of land adjacent to the Info park in Cherthala has been mooted. [6]

Facilities

CSEZ offers standard design factory floors, and plots of land for building custom buildings. There is a dedicated building for IT/ITES units, built with private participation. Power distribution, Telephone connectivity, Water supply and sewage processing are managed by the zone authority. There is on site customs facilities for easy processing of import and export.

Most of the procedures for starting a unit is handled by the zone authority, except a few regulatory approvals from the government. [7] The Central Board of Excise and Customs have an office dedicated for the units in the CSEZ on the premises, and all the customs procedures for import and export can be done in the unit itself. Consignments are inspected and sealed on premises, and does not require customs processing at the port entry/exit points.

The zone operates a 25MVA/110KV electrical substation exclusively for the use within the zone. This is fed from the main grid of the Kerala State Electricity Board. [8] The zone is a licensee of power distribution, and supplies power to the units via the network of underground cables. The zone is exempt from the power-cuts normally applied to the consumers at the time of shortages.

BSNL have established a 1000 line 5ESS telephone exchange exclusively for the zone. It supports all the facilities available to PSTN, ISDN and DSL customers. The cellular operators have base stations on site, and the private telecom operators also provide telephone and high speed internet services. The international gateway of VSNL is located very close to the zone, and have established an access centre on the premises of the zone. The CSEZ authority have established an optical fiber network that serve all the buildings, where the units can avail the connectivity for data and internet access. [9] The zone has also set up a video conferencing facility that could be availed by the units.

The Zone has its own integrated water supply system. Water is drawn from the Kadamprayar river and treated at a facility within the Zone. The system capacity is 1.5 million litres per day. A Common Effluent Treatment facility of one million litre per day capacity is established to process all the sewage and effluents let out from units. Zone units are required to send all their sewage and effluent to this treatment plant. [10] Units are encouraged to undergo ISO 14000 certification.

There is a warehouse admeasuring an area of 24000 sq.ft. for the temporary storage requirements of CSEZ units. The Zone has an efficient drainage network and an incinerator for disposal of solid waste within the zone. The Zone also has a 35m3 capacity bio-gas plant to treat vegetable/seafood waste.

The Muthoot Technopolis is an IT Park building within the zone.

History

The Government of India resolved to set up CEPZ, the predecessor of CSEZ, on 28 June 1983. Construction started on 1 May 1985 with an estimated cost of 15 Crores. The official notification for the establishment happened on 26 August 1986. [11] The first board meeting to consider the applications for setting up units was held on 7 June 1986. M/s D. V. Deo, a manufacturer of essential oils and oleoresins, conducted the first export in October, 1986.

The zone is originally envisaged to support industries operating in the fields of Electronics, Computer Software, Readymade Garments, Spices, glass products, wood products, leather products, rubber products, coir-based products, food-processing, pharmaceuticals, light engineering goods, sports goods, printing, gems and jewellery, electrical appliances, hand tools, automobile parts etc. There was a minimum stipulated value addition of 30%, with an option to reduce it to 20% for deserving cases.

During the first year, i.e. 1986-87, the zone recorded a total export of 94 lakhs, which grew to 120.31 Crores in 1995-96. The net foreign exchange earnings in this period was 200 Crores. The liberalization of the economy from 1991 boosted the performance of the zone considerably. By the next decade, the total exports has grown to 696 Crores. [5] By the year 2009-10, the total turnover grew to 17124 crores.

Even though the zone was envisaged to leverage on the cheap labour and the locally available raw materials to facilitate the units, it saw the establishment of a few units in advanced technologies. AMP Tools, a subsidiary of AMP Inc. set up a unit to produce advanced tooling, which commenced operation in July 1992. NortPak Fiber Optics set up a unit to manufacture fiber optic switches and multiplexers in April 1993. Sun Fibre Optics started manufacturing fiber optic networking products in April 1991.

In recent years, the norms for value addition had been changed, facilitating the operation of gem and jewellery manufacturing units. The leading exports had been from this class in the recent years, followed by Electronics Hardware. The traditional items like readymade garments and rubber products had been on comparative decline. [5]

Units in CSEZ

CSEZ currently have 160 units functioning within employing around 15,000 people. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increased investment, job creation and effective administration. To encourage businesses to set up in the zone, financial policies are introduced. These policies typically encompass investing, taxation, trading, quotas, customs and labour regulations. Additionally, companies may be offered tax holidays, where upon establishing themselves in a zone, they are granted a period of lower taxation.

A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to customs duty. Free trade zones are generally organized around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers—areas with many geographic advantages for trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kakkanad</span> Place in Kerala, India

Kakkanad is a major industrial and residential region in Thrikkakkara, in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. The region is part of the Kochi metropolitan area. Kakkanad houses many IT and industrial projects such as the Cochin Special Economic Zone, Infopark, Smart City and KINFRA Export Promotion Industrial Park. It is also the administrative headquarters of the District of Ernakulam.

The economy of South India after independence in 1947 conformed to a socialist framework, with strict governmental control over private sector participation, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). Through 1960–1990, South Indian economies experienced mixed economic growth. In the 1960s, Kerala achieved above-average economic growth, while Andhra Pradesh's economy declined during this period. Similarly, Kerala experienced an economic decline in the 1970s while the economies of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka consistently exceeded national average growth rates after 1970. South India first started to overtake the rest of India economically in the 1980s. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were noted by some to be more reform-oriented in terms of economic policy when compared to other Indian states. Over the last decade South India has grown at 8% annually. Future economic growth will be shackled by a relatively low proportion of the active age population to the number of dependents. Today, South India has about 20% of India's population, and contributes about 31% of India's GDP; it is projected to contribute 35% by 2030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">InfoPark, Kochi</span> IT Park situated in Kochi, India

Infopark, Kochi is an information technology park situated in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. Established in 2004 by the Government of Kerala, the park is spread over 260 acres (105.2 ha) of campus across two phases, housing 546 companies which employs about 63,600 professionals as of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Kochi</span>

The economy of Kochi was worth 49453.29 crores in 2012 - 2013 financial year with a growth of almost 7.5% per annum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software Technology Parks of India</span> Technology Park

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an S&T autonomous society under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) engaged in promoting IT/ ITES Industry, Innovation, R&D, Start-ups, Product/ IP creation in the field of emerging technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Computer Vision, Robotics, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Animation & Visual effect (AVGC), Data Science & Analytics for various domains like FinTech, Agritech, MedTech, Autonomous Connected Electric & Shared(ACES) Mobility, ESDM, Cyber Security, Gaming, Industry 4.0, Drone, Efficiency Augmentation, etc. STPI was established in 1991 by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the export of software from India. STPI Headquarters is located in New Delhi with over 60+ Centres spread across the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Tamil Nadu</span>

Tamil Nadu has the second largest state economy in India. The state also hosts the highest number of factories in the country. The state is 48.40% urbanised, accounting for around 9.26% of the urban population in the country, while the state as a whole accounted for 5.96% of India's total population in the 2011 census. Services contributes to 54% to the gross domestic product of the state, followed by manufacturing at 33% and agriculture at 13%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur</span>

The Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is an airport project for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur. It is the biggest economical development project currently underway in India in terms of investments. The project aims to exploit the central location of Nagpur and convert the present airport into a major cargo hub with integrated road and rail connectivity.

Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) is a Special Economic Zone in Mumbai, India. Situated in the Andheri East area, it is subjected to liberal economic laws as compared to the rest of India to promote rapid economic growth using tax and business incentives and attract foreign investment and technology. Seepz was created in 1973 and was seen as export processing zone. Since then many other SEZ's have been created in rest of India. SEEPZ mainly houses electronic hardware manufacturing companies, software companies, and jewelry exporters of India. More than 40 percent of India's total jewelry exports ($2,222.31 million) out of $5,210.69 million during year 2006-2007 came from units within SEEPZ.

The city of Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, is also a major commercial and business hub of South India. It is said to be the heartland of Kerala's business acumen and home to most every leading Malayali entrepreneurs. The city which is famous for Bullion, Banking and its Business acumen, is the darling of investors in Kerala. Thrissur is also referred as the Golden city of India. It manufactures 70% of plain gold jewellery in Kerala per day. According to a survey, Thrissur city has been placed on 7th among the ten cities in India to reside. According to Registrar of Companies, the period from 1 January to 31 March 2010, 87 companies were registered in Thrissur and stood second in Kerala after Cochin. Thrissur's traditional strength lies in best entrepreneurial and financial capabilities.

Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) or Domestic Tariff Zone (DTZ) means an area within India that is outside the Special Economic Zones and EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP.

In Bangladesh, the principal taxes are Customs duties, Value-Added-Tax (VAT), supplementary duty, income tax and corporation tax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinfra Film and Video Park</span> Infotainment industrial park, Kerela, India

Kinfra Film and Video Park is India's first Infotainment Industrial Park. It is also the first SEZ in India for animation and gaming. It is situated in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala State. The Park is a fully owned subsidiary of KINFRA, a statutory body of the Kerala Government.

Economy of Coimbatore is heavily influenced by information technology, engineering and textiles. Coimbatore is called the Manchester of South India due to its extensive textile industry, and IT industry, small and medium scale enterprises. The GDP of Coimbatore is around $20 billion (2021). It is second largest city by GDP in Tamil Nadu. The city has four special economic zones [SEZ], ELCOT SEZ, KGISL SEZ, SPAN Venture SEZ, Aspen SEZ and at least five more SEZs are in the pipeline. In 2010, Coimbatore ranked 15th in the list of most competitive Indian cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mundra Port</span> Container port in India

Mundra Port is India's first private port, largest container port and largest commercial port, located on the northern shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat. Formerly operated by Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited (MPSEZ) owned by Adani Group, it was later expanded into Adani Ports & SEZ Limited (APSEZ) managing several ports. In FY 2020–21, Mundra Port handled 144.4 million tonnes of cargo. The port currently handles over 155 MT, which constitutes nearly 11 per cent of India’s maritime cargo. The port also handles nearly 33 per cent of India’s container traffic.

Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) is a special economic zone in Chennai, India. It is one of the seven export processing zones in the country set up by the central government. It was established in 1984 to promote foreign direct investment, enhance foreign exchange earnings, and create greater employment opportunities in the region.

References

  1. 1 2 CSEZ - ibnlive
  2. Cochin SEZ beats recession
  3. Exports from SEZs established by Central Government
  4. "Notification No. 48/2003 - Customs (N.T.)". Govt of India. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 "Economic Review 2009, Chapter 8" (PDF). Kerala Planning Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  6. Cochin SEZ to help set up new zones
  7. "How to Apply". Cochin Special Economic Zone. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  8. "Power". Cochin Special Economic Zone. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  9. "Bandwidth". Cochin Special Economic Zone. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  10. "Water and Effluents". Cochin Special Economic Zone. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  11. "Notification No. 397/86-C.E., dated 26-8-1986". Govt of India. Retrieved 18 November 2010.

Further reading

10°00′18″N76°20′38″E / 10.005°N 76.344°E / 10.005; 76.344