SPEL Semiconductor drops SEZ plan

Chennai: SPEL Semiconductor said that it has decided to ask the Government to cancel the approval for the company’s SEZ, “as the company is not in a position to execute the SEZ project.”

The company has not given any reasons for this reversal of plans, nor were SPEL’s officials available for comments. A spokesman for the company said that the company was focussed on growth.

He also could not comment on the impact of the decision on SPEL, which obviously would forfeit any benefits arising out of the SEZ.

SPEL Semiconductor is in the business of assembling, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) semiconductors. It is the only company in the country in this business at present.

Over the last three years, with investments in doses, SPEL raised its capacity from 180 million units to 425 million.

SPEL has 18 acres of land at Maraimalainagar, 40 km south of Chennai, around its ATMP facility. Its parent company, SPIC, had another 7 acres. SPEL had proposed to put up a SEZ on the 25-acre piece of land—the minimum required for a single product SEZ.

The plan was to build a 1.75 million sq. ft facility that could be leased out to IT hardware units.

The company also wanted to put up a residential block and a hotel. Although Maraimalainagar is a bustling industrial township with several auto components companies including Ford, it has no hotel.