Reliance seeks licence to make defence products at Mihan

Nagpur: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which had announced mega investment plans for

Mihan-SEZ

, has come up with a proposal to make a host of items, mainly for naval forces, before the board of approvals (BOA), an agency under the ministry of commerce. The items include torpedoes, rockets, ground control systems, and naval airborne platforms, which will be made at Nagpur. The company has mooted a similar proposal for a long list of items to be made at the SEZ in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh also. In the proposals for Mihan, there are plans to have units having capacity to make 100 to 10,000 items in a year depending on the product type. The state government has given its recommendation to the proposals on the condition that 80% of the jobs are given to local persons, both before and after the start of commercial production. If the plans for both

SEZs

are taken into account, the company has practically covered all items needed for defence forces, ranging from small arms to naval airborne systems. Divided in 16 different categories, the products are being proposed to be made by five companies under the ADAG group. The BOA will be considering the proposals during its meeting on April 28. Getting a BOA approval to make the defence items in a SEZ indicates that the company will also be exporting the products. All units in a SEZ have to maintain net foreign exchange earnings, for which the export obligations have to be met. The company has already got licence to manufacture 12 defence products from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). Now, a proposal has been put up before the BOA. However, the proposals for Mihan-SEZ have not been put up in the name of Reliance Aerostructure Limited (RAL), which has been allotted land in the area by Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC). In Mihan, it had originally mooted a project to make aircraft/helicopters and related spares. Instead of RAL, the proposals for Mihan have been submitted by M/s Reliance SED Limited and Reliance Naval Systems. When this was pointed out to a senior official at MADC, he said, “The matter is known to MADC also. However, these are sister concerns of the same group and it is possible that since RAL has been allotted land as a co-developer in Mihan-SEZ, it can let out space to these companies to carry out the manufacturing activities.” A co-developer can allot space to other companies also within the area it has been allotted in a SEZ. Reliance had announced its plans for Nagpur under the banner of RAL. It had come up with a Rs6,500 crore investment plan for a project spread over 289 hectares. Later, the requirement of land was cut down to 104 acres. So far, Reliance has paid Rs25 crore towards the land to MADC, with another Rs38 crore pending. The deadline for payment has not ended yet. IN A NUTSHELL Reliance has proposed to manufacture defence related products at two SEZs, including Mihan Proposal covers almost every item required by defence forces Units in SEZ have to export products Maharashtra wants 80% jobs to be given to locals. Proposals divided into 16 categories, to be made by 5 different companies In Nagpur, land allotted to Reliance Aerostructure Limited (RAL) But proposal put up by two other group companies It is expected that these may be allotted space by RAL, which is a co-developer In Nagpur, Reliance had planned a Rs6,500 crore project earlier

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