SEZ status for 261 acres at infovalley

Infosys allotted 50 acres

The Government of India has accorded SEZ (Special Economic Zone) notification for 261 acres out of 500 acres land earmarked for the Infovalley project being developed on the outskirts of the city. The state government has allotted 50 acres to Infosys Technologies at the site.

"Around 500 acres is under possession for the Infovalley project at Gaudakasipur area under Jatani tehsil. Out of the above 500 acres, Government of India notification for SEZ has been accorded for 261 acres on January 4 this year. Allotment of 50 acres within the SEZ area has been made in favour of Infosys Technologies for the establishment of an IT software SEZ complex”, industries minister Raghunath Mohanty said in the state assembly.

The state government has incurred an expenditure of Rs 33.01 crore on land acquisition and Rs 5.53 crore on infrastructure development for the Infovalley project.

Idco SEZ Development Ltd has been constituted for the implementation of the project. The area planning of SEZ is in progress and after finalization of the master plan, implementation and marketing mechanism will be finalized.

The construction of compound wall around the land under possession at the Infovalley is under progress. Besides, construction work of a four-lane approach road from Talakheta crossing to NH-5 to the site is in progress.

The project has already got the clearance from the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF). As a part of the project, an integrated township spread over 18 acres will be developed on the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The bidding process will begin after completion of the basic infrastructure facilities.

Infosys Technologies will be the anchor tenant of the Infovalley region where it will be allotted 100 acres.

The software major had earlier announced that it would kick off construction work on its second development centre in the city in April this year.

As per the estimates of the Orissa IT department, the Infocity-II project is set to attract investments worth Rs 4,000 crore from IT and ITes (IT enabled services) companies.

The proposed Infocity-II project was to generate direct and indirect employment for about four lakh people in the information technology (IT) and ITes sectors.