Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative's (IFFCO) Nellore Project Gains Fresh Momentum With Multi-Product SEZ

Agriculture & Rural

Posted by AI on 2025-09-14 20:00:56 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-12-19 10:46:21

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Multi-product SEZ boosts momentum in Nellore Project. Nellore Project, nearly three decades after acquiring 2,776 acres of land in this district for setting up a gas-based urea manufacturing plant, is finally getting back on track. The project, originally planned in 1996 as a naphtha-based ammoniaurea complex, had received first-level approval from the Public Investment Board of the central government. However, final clearance was withheld due to low international fertilizer prices and concerns over subsidy outflow. Subsequent attempts by IFFCO, along with successive state governments, to secure natural gas allocation had also failed.

With the enactment of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act, 2005, IFFCO reoriented its vision and proposed the Kisan SEZ, securing approvals from both state and central governments. In 2008, the project was officially rebranded as the IFFCO Kisan Special Economic Zone (IKSEZ), with 1,899 acres earmarked for the SEZ and 877 acres for a Domestic Tariff Zone (DTZ). The ambitious initiative was soon mired in controversy from disputes over steep land pricing to questions over allotments to non-agriculture companies. Years of litigation stalled its progress, leaving the vast land bank underutilized.

That impasse now appears to be over. Having cleared legal hurdles last year, IFFCO has revived its marketing efforts and repositioned IKSEZ as a Multi-Product SEZ aimed at attracting a broad spectrum of industries beyond agriculture. IKSEZ encourages investors from diverse sectors such as renewable energy, electric mobility, electronics, nanotechnology, IT/BPO, and light and heavy engineering, sources in the project confirmed.

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