Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) is a

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is one of the seven export processing zones in the country set up by the central government. It was established in 1984 to promote foreign direct investment, enhance

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

earnings, and create greater employment opportunities in the region.

Location

The MEPZ is located on

GST Road Grand Southern Trunk Road (or) National Highways 45 is an arterial road in Tamil Nadu. It is also known as Chennai–Trichy Highway. The Road starts from Kathipara Junction in St Thomas Mount, Chennai towards Tiruchirappalli. It branches out from A ...

Tambaram Tambaram is a southern suburb of Chennai, India. Located in the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu, it is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation and is a part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Etymology Tambaram is an ancient town ...

. It is located 6 km south of

Chennai International Airport Chennai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu and its metropolitan area. It is located in Tirusulam, southwest of the city centre. Chennai International Airport is the sixth busiest airp ...

History

The MEPZ was started in 1984 as an initiative of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with an investment of 6716.7 million. On 1 January 2003, the zone was converted into a special economic zone (SEZ) with an added objective of facilitating exports through reduction of transaction costs. To facilitate this, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries introduced special features such as offshore banking units and container freight stations to be set up within the zone, in addition to liberalised customs procedures. In March 2013, an additional exit and entry point for heavy vehicles arriving at and leaving the MEPZ–SEZ was opened.

Administration

The zone is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries and caters to the needs of units within the SEZ, in addition to monitoring the functions of 100-percent export-oriented units (EOUs) located in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

, and

Andaman & Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated ...

. The zone is headed by a development commissioner.

Special economic zone

Spread over an area of 265 acres (109 hectares), MEPZ SEZ is a multi-product zone housing 117 functional units. In addition, another 27 units are under various stages of implementation. The zone employs over 26,000 people. In the manufacturing front, there are 110 SME units in the zone. MEPZ's manufacturing sector employs nearly 20,000 people. IT companies housed in the zone include

Cognizant Technology Solutions Cognizant is an American multinational information technology services and consulting company. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Cognizant is part of the NASDAQ-100 and trades under CTSH. It was founded as an in-hous ...

, Computer Sciences Corporation, CSS and HTC Global Services among others. About 50 container trucks arrive at and leave the zone every day.

Infrastructure

The zone has an exclusive 230 KV sub-station, capable of supplying 30 MW. It also has an exclusive telephone exchange with

fibre optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means ...

connectivity, a post office, video conferencing facility in the administrative building, and a telecommunication tower. The foreign exchange transactions of the zone are facilitated by a branch of

Indian Bank Indian Bank is an Indian public sector bank, established in 1907 and headquartered in Chennai. It serves over 100 million customers with 39,734 employees, 5,721 branches with 5,428 ATMs and Cash deposit machines. Total business of the bank has ...

located within in the SEZ.

Revenue

The export turnover for the year 2006-2007 was 24,620 million, of which manufacturing sector accounted for 70 percent. Garments, software, and engineering products contributed more than 50 percent of the export value. In recent years, engineering sector has been promoted with special reference to automobile ancillaries. As of 2008, software exports from the zone averaged 300 to 350 million per month.

References

External links

Home page of MEPZ

MEPZ page in SEZIndia.nic.in
{{coord, 12, 56, 37, N, 80, 07, 16, E, display=title Economy of Chennai Special Economic Zones of India