Member companies have paid 10 per cent keenness amount to RIICO for reserving 100.7 acres of land at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.
Srabani Sen
Thursday, May 23, 2013: The Bhiwadi electronics cluster in Rajasthan, an initiative taken by electronics components makers’ association ELCINA, has reached its first major milestone. The members of this cluster have submitted the payment of keenness money to RIICO Ltd, for reserving 100.7 acres of land at the Industrial Area Salarpur, Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, in favour of ELCINA Electronics Manufacturing Cluster Pvt Ltd., which is the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for this project.
“Keenness money is the non-refundable security deposit given to government agencies when they allot a piece of land to a private organisation. In our case, it was 10 per cent of the total cost of the bare land paid to RIICO, a government of Rajasthan undertaking, in April, 2013, and as special case we have been given the assurance that this money is refundable in the extreme case if the project does not see the light of the day,” explains Rajoo Goel, secretary general, ELCINA.
Commenting on the achievement, Goel, says, “The Bhiwadi electronics cluster is the first greenfield cluster in India reaching this stage. In fact, we have taken the lead in developing three electronics clusters in India.”
Says Vinod Sharma, managing director, Deki Electronics, one of the member companies of the Bhiwadi cluster, “This cluster is a proof that India can competitively manufacture electronic hardware even when the sector is faced with the issue of zero per cent import duty. India’s opportunity to manufacture in this globally competitive market was written off by many experts and industry captains. But the 60 members of ELCINA are getting together to prove them wrong.”
About 60 per cent of the total land allotted for the Bhiwadi cluster, that is, 60 acres, will be used by the manufacturing companies for setting up their plant, and the remaining 40 acres will be used for common infrastructure and common facilities, that is roads, sewage system, green area, tool room, etc. So, basically, 40 per cent of the saleable area has already been occupied by the manufacturers.
The roadmap ahead
As per the EMC policy guidelines of DeitY, a greenfield cluster application goes through a two-stage process—preliminary and final. DeitY gives in-principal approval based on the preliminary application, which contains macro information about the project. After getting the in-principal approval, the applicant gets six months to submit the final application, that involves formation of SPV, DPR and other legal and statutory compliance. “We have completed these requirements in advance, and as soon as we get the in-principal approval, we can submit the final application,” added Goel.
RIICO has also applied for the environment clearance (EC) of the project, which is expected to come in by July. “Once they get it, the cluster will get a formal letter of reservation. Meanwhile, the various surveys of the land is being conducted for master planning and design. This will also tentatively complete by end of July. After master planning, and EC, civil work will be initiated,” Goel informs.
ELCINA has also initiated the process of obtaining quotations from survey agencies for conducting the soil/topographical surveys. “Our target is to complete the survey within the next 20-25 days and proceed with the master planning, which we target to complete by July end,” concluded Goel.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No. 1 electronics B2B sourcing magazine
ELCINA invites companies interested to set up their manufacturing plant in this cluster. For more details about the cluster and joining formalities please contact:
ELINA Electronic Industries Association of India
ELCINA House, 422, Okhla Industrial Estate Phase – III, New Delhi – 110020
Phone: 011 – 26928053; 41615985 Fax: 011 – 26923440 Email: emc@elcina.com or
Yogesh Adalatwale|yogesh@elcina.com|9911445891
