Berhampur (Odisha) : After the debacle of Tata steel's Gopalpur project, the people of southern Odisha got yet another chance to rejoice. They see industrialization taking off through the Special Economic Zone.

Tata's Gopalpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) got the clearance from the Board of Approval (BOA) on 31st May. The SEZ at Gopalpur is to be the first of its kind in the state.

Whether A Boon or Bane?

The controversy of whether setting up of Special Economic Zones is good for India or would spell disaster is one that is not going to fade so soon. The debate is still heavy in the air. In this background, Tata' Gopalpur SEZ needs an elaborate discussion.

SEZ: Road to prosperity

Now the path is clear for Tata's SEZ at Gopalpur. Previously the Tatas had procured the land to set up a Greenfield steel plant. But, the project could not succeed due to more than one reason.

Instantly, there would be no problem for the Tatas as the land is already under their possession. And the problems like rehabilitation, law and order administration are far away from it.

Dr Bhagabat Patro, renowned Economist and Reader, Department of Economics Berhampur University is of the opinion that the Gopalpur Special Economic Zone would act as a catalyst for growth and will facilitate large inflows of foreign and domestic investments into this region (South Odisha) in particular and Orissa in general.

As Odisha's economic growth is taking off slowly, this SEZ could be another way of boosting the economy, setting up of new infrastructure, helping ancillary units sprout and creating significant number of direct and indirect employment opportunities in the region (Berhampur, Gopalpur, Chhatrapur and adjacent areas). It will develop south Odisha into a flourishing tract.

Similar kind of view has been expressed by another economist of the region Dr Sarat Rajguru. According to him the SEZ sounds like a unique approach to take off the growth of the region. It will generate jobs and bring prosperity to the people. After the SEZ, Berhampur may have its own malls, good restaurants, hospitals, luxury apartments, recreation centers and even jetties (Gopalpur port) that would jostle to become among the best in the country. All these things need huge investments.

The construction sector would be the first to boom in the region, as heavy investment in infrastructure will take place. So flight of people of adjacent areas in search of manual work to Surat, or some other place could be stopped. The migrant laborers who go to far away places like Surat and Mumbai can be absorbed into the construction sector, which is likely to take off after the SEZ in the region.

Odisha is also quite liberal in promoting technical education in the state, so the engineers and technically trained people passing out from engineering institutes could easily get the job in their own region.

An investment in multi product SEZ like Gopalpur would generates peripheral prosperity, in the shape of ancillary units.

Major concerns

It is certain that some infrastructural hick ups could arise while implementing the proposed multi product SEZ in Gopalpur. The two most important components for any type of industry are water and electricity. Lack of water is the biggest problem for the region. Even the city of Berhampur which has a population of more than five lakhs has no reliable source of drinking water.

The city requires 17 million gallons of water per day but the government is able to supply only 7mg of water from the Rushikulya Joint water scheme and Dakshinapur project. The government and the Tatas both should have think about the source of water for the multi product SEZ at Gopalpur, says Chittaranjan Das, a renowned social activist in the region.

Kewda Industry

Approximately, 40-42 thousand people are directly and more than 1 lakh people indirectly depend on Kewda cultivation in the region. The Tatas should take enough care not to adversely affect the industry. They should promote and facilitate farmers to create Kewda flower cultivation in barren lands.

People should not politicize this SEZ like Tata's Gopalpur steel plant. He further added.


Neighbourhood effects

Economist Sarat Rajguru feels that Gopalpur SEZ could lead neighbourhood effects in this region. He fears that people from neighbour area may flux into these region after implementation of SEZ, so cost of living in this are may gone up, which could bring woes to the poor people.

So both Tata and Govt should look into these things (keeping cost of living at low) as well.

The loss of due to displacement or anything like that, and probable rising cost of living will be small in comparison to the gains by the SEZ.

Just as one does not stop going to the temple because the ant is killed, so also we cannot stop establishing efficient industries because a few thousand people are adversely affected. But this does not mean that the affected people should be abandoned.

The affected people (possible displacement) should be encouraged to establishment of service industries such as restaurants and transport, courier agencies or any such activities in these zones. Then they will be able to make a living by these sunrise occupations and establishment of these SEZ will then become a boon for South Odisha in particular and Odisha in general.