Nagpur, Dec 19
The Covid pandemic has affected business pan India and had an adverse impact on the economy and most of the sectors. Some of the industries just managed to survive the jolt and others are still grappling to stay on course.
The special economic zones (SEZs) across India have reported contraction of business and exports, but the multi-product SEZ developed by MADC in Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) has registered growth in business and exports.
The Mihan SEZ has registered a growth of around 72 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) registering a total turnover of `1,551 crore in the first two quarters of FY 2020-21. Mihan SEZ garnered a business of `2,042 crore till September 2020 compared to `1,244 crore during the same period last year.
Sharing more information on the performance of Mihan SEZ, the development commissioner of Mihan Sambhaji Chavan said, “After taking the charge in May and assessing the situation, we had taken a few initiatives and ensured that business continuity remains intact for the units working in Mihan SEZ.”
“We interacted with the company heads and were fortunate that a lot of them continued to work from home (WFH). Other initiatives which we undertook were online open house meetings, providing guidance and compliance training to new companies (unit holders) and the approval process was also completely online due to the Covid restrictions,” Chavan added.
Monthly meetings were conducted to hand-hold the new units and also remove the bottlenecks faced by the existing companies in the SEZ, he added.
Chavan further said, “During the pandemic, we not only boosted the exports, but also attracted new investment in Mihan SEZ. A gems and jewellery company from Mumbai has set shop in Mihan SEZ.”
Mihan SEZ has clusters which comprises IT and ITES (IT Enabled Services), aviation and aero space, pharma, manufacturing, food processing and gems and jewellery.
The lions share in the export contribution was through the IT & ITES, aviation and aero space and agri processing units.
Mihan SEZ can be window to the world: Chavan
On the potential of Mihan SEZ, Sambhaji Chavan said, “The Mihan SEZ has locational advantage due to its proximity to the international airport as well as the connectivity of Nagpur to the Middle East and UAE as there are direct flights to Dubai and Qatar.” The companies can take advantage of this as they can reach the world through the Middle East.
Exports from Mihan SEZ
Year Manufacturing Services
2017-2018 `309 cr `406 cr
2018-2019 `739 cr `505 cr
2019-2020* `1045cr `997 cr
Note: 2020 figures are till Sept 2020