The Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) at Tambaram was the third SEZ to be established in India, in 1984. Now, the facility spread over 262 acres is set for vertical redevelopment of 10 lakh sq m (more than 1 crore sq ft) that will bring in more companies and boost value of its exports to `30,000 crore and create another 1 lakh jobs, Alex Paul Menon, development commissioner, MEPZ SEZ, tells TOI in an interview. Excerpts:
Why redevelop MEPZ Tambaram vertically?
While MEPZ, as a developer, has utilized 100% of the plot area of 262 acres, about 30% of the built-up area has been unutilized or utilized for non-production purposes. Densification of industrial land use through higher floor area ratio (FAR) and flatted factories encourages landowners to develop more areas. This has seen benefits in other states. Flatted factories are also being built and developed in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Implementation of the redevelopment plan
Flatted factories are multi-storey industrial structures that maximize the use of available ground. This allows for versatility in arranging space to meet various industrial needs. You can change or add floors to meet changing requirements. To implement this concept, unutilised or underutilised land parcels are identified and bought back from the existing units. To start with, a multi-storey building of 2 lakh sqm (21.5 lakh sqft) would be built to accommodate people who have surrendered such land parcels and also to accommodate more units.
Units can come forward to surrender plots in lieu of modern built-up spaces with premium grade A amenities and modern infrastructure such as centralised warehousing, car parks, truck depots and goods lifts. This will trigger a series of redevelopment projects utilizing the full FSI of the surrendered plots and old flatted factories, thereby increasing the built-up space within MEPZ by another 8 lakh sqm (86 lakh sqft) in a span of five years. This, in turn, will attract more units inside MEPZ and increase employment to the local population.
How many number of units can be added after the redevelopment plan is fully executed? Any dedicated zone for startups or R&D facilities?
With an increase of 2 lakh sq m and further staggered increase to 10 lakh sqm of built-up area, a large number of units can be accommodated. This can be expected to add employment to almost one lakh people. There are plans to set up trade facilitation centres, which can help startups, MSMEs and first-generation entrepreneurs. R&D facilities to bring academia and talented freshers from colleges closer to industries are also being discussed as part of the redevelopment.
Commencement of the redevelopment plan
The initial 2 lakh sq m may be started in a year’s time and further addition will depend on the market demand.
Value of annual exports from MEPZ once redevelopment is completed
The total value of exports in MEPZ Tambaram during FY23 was around 6,200 crore. With an increase in built-up spaces, more companies can set up units and existing units can expand their capacities. As a result of this, three to five times increase in exports can be expected.
Redevelopment cost – Capital requirement for redevelopment can range from 2,000 crore to 2,500 crore.
