EPCES: 67 awards presented to achievers
Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam speaking at a function in Visakhapatnam on Friday
Visakhapatnam: An awards function was held at Hotel Novotel here on Friday for the SEZs and EoUs operational under the jurisdiction of Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone spread over AP, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
The occasion was chaired by Secretary, Commerce, Govt of India Dr BVR Subrahmanyam. In all, 67 awards were given away personally by the Commerce Secretary to all the achievers from various sectors viz, Engineering, Food and Agri sector, Chemicals, Pharma, IT/ITES, Warehousing, Trading, Gems and Jewellery, under Developers and Units category for commendable exports, highest exports, highest investment, highest employment generation, highest single area in a location, both under SEZs and EoU category for their performance during 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Those who took part in the function included A R M Reddy, Development Commissioner, VSEZ, JDC, DDC and ADCs from AP and Telangana and more than 100 representatives from various units in both the States. Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chairman, Central Governing Counsel of Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs (EPCES) appreciated the role played by the developers and units and also appreciated the entrepreneurial friendly policies of the government and has expressed confidence that, they will work towards achievement of the goals set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve 400 billion USD of exports during the year.
The Secretary, Commerce, appreciated the developers and units of VSEZ for achieving outstanding exports.
On the occasion, various developers like DLF, Phoenix, Divyasree, Divija, GMR, Tech-Mahindra, Deccan fine chemicals, Aurobindo, Hetero, Brandix, Apache and units like Satya exports, EoUs like Synergies, RK Hair, CCL Products, Vayhan coffee, Tata Lockheed were presented with awards for high exports etc.
Development Commissioner of VSEZ, A R M Reddy, said that during 2020-21, the exports made were to the tune of Rs 1,14,505 crore (15611 mi. USD) and VSEZ recorded an increase in exports of 15%. The VSEZ has broken all the records of 32 years in total exports.
During current year, the VSEZ has achieved exports to the tune of Rs 53,858 crore up to September 23, which is 26 % higher than last year for the similar period. The investment made so far is Rs 78,242 crore, and employment generated is 4.5 lakh.
Reddy said that, during last two-and-half years, 121 new units have been approved. Some of them have already started functioning.