Infighting mars Hubli chance to be SEZ

Infighting mars Hubli chance to be SEZ
Business Standard

Our Correspondent / Hubli January 02, 2006

Hubli lost a chance of being declared an export-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for industrial valves because of the infighting between two groups.

The two groups, one headed by an industrial family of Hubli and another comprising new players vied with each other to get the credit for getting the SEZ status for Hubli and at the end lost out to Hasan.

Hubli is known as centre of production and export of valves. An estimated Rs 100 crore worth of valves with wide-ranging applications in petroleum and chemical industries are exported every year from Hubli.

The Karnatak government had sent a proposal to the Centre to declare some towns in the state as industrial clusters for a particular type of activity.

It had proposed Belgaum as foundry cluster, Bellaryn as garments cluster and Hubli as valves cluster.

While proposals for Belgaum and Bellary were cleared, the Centre rejected the proposal for Hubli and instead declared Hasan as a cluster town for textiles even though the place is not known for export oriented textile units.

Under the SEZ scheme each cluster was to get Rs 50 crore to set up facilities beneficial for selected local industries. What deprived Hubli the chance, according to local industrialists is the difference between the two groups.

While one group had initiated the proposal for getting Hubli the SEZ status the other group hurriedly set up the required special purpose vehicle called the Hubli Walve Cluster Society to deprive the other group the credit for its efforts.