IT major Infosys has been granted more time by the Centre to finish the construction of the minimum built-up area and operationalise its proposed IT/ITeS special economic zone in Noida.

The minutes of a meeting held on May 29 reveal that the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs, the top decision making body for SEZ developers and units, extended the formal approval for the project, which was to lapse in April 2020, by a year till April 2021.

Infosys has been given another year to construct the minimum built-up area, although the company had asked for two additional years.

“The developers had pointed out that construction was hampered by a ban on construction activity by the Supreme Court late last year in the National Capital Region (NCR) due to growing pollution, which seemed to be a valid point,” an official told BusinessLine .

Phased construction

The developer wants to build the SEZ in a phased manner keeping in mind the market conditions, per the representation submitted to the BoA.

“The Covid-19 disruptions have worsened the situation for SEZs that were already suffering due to an economic downturn and withdrawal of direct tax incentives. It is understandable if developers want to invest their money judiciously after weighing the situation,” the official said.

Infosys had proposed to invest ₹1,129 crore in the Noida SEZ unit. Till date it has invested ₹175.41 crore. However, a large part of the investments have been made for purchasing land and none has been invested in material procurement, as construction activity is yet to begin, said the submission to the BoA.

The BoA also gave a one-year extension to the LoA issued to three SEZ unis that had expired earlier this year. This included Cocogreen Organics Ltd and Ubergreen Organics Ltd at Kinfra SEZ in Malappuram, Kerala, and Mindspace Infratech Pvt Ltd at MIDC SEZ, Pune.

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