Mumbai: Videocon group along with a Thai partner will set up a special economic zone at Siliguri in West Bengal , marking the consumer electronics major''s entry into the biotech space

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya will lay the foundation stone for the SEZ on June 28, reports quoted Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot as saying.

He said the group will soon sign a joint venture agreement with a Thailand-based firm for setting up the Siliguri biotech SEZ. "Thailand is very strong in biotech and we expect to have synergy through the partnership," Dhoot said. He, however, did not identify the partner.

The biotech park will be among five SEZs that Videocon has proposed to set up in West Bengal. The SEZ is expected to be around 60-acre in size and will also include food processing and floriculture.

Videocon group had applied for setting up multi-product SEZ at Kalyanbill and Motiagacha sites in North 24 Parganas measuring up to 1,080 acre. It has also planned a 1,000 acre multi-product zone between Kharagpur and Kolkata.

Besides, the group proposed to set up a 12-acre electronics hardware, software and ITeS SEZ at Siliguri, Ranidanga and Kalaram Mouza, and another 144 acre product specific SEZ at Suryapur Mouza in North 24 Parganas.

The West Bengal government is expected to approach the centre seeking reduction in minimum land size for multi-product zones to 1,000 acres from about 2,500 acres now.

A cap on number of SEZs in states and waiving the contiguity clause will also be part of demands that the Left Front government will place before the UPA government.

A reduction in minimum land area would help companies acquire land more easily, especially in a densely-populated state like West Bengal , state industry minister Nirupam Sen said.

An empowered group of ministers had earlier this year capped the maximum land size of SEZs at 5,000 hectares (nearly 12,500 acres) following protests, including an incident in West Bengal''s Nandigram over land acquisition for Indonesia-based Salim Group''s SEZ.

However, the minimum land requirement for a multi-product SEZ remains 1,000 hectares (2,469 acres). There is no minimum land requirement for product-specific SEZs.

Already the centre had agreed to the state''s suggestion on SEZs'' land use for processing units to reduce the component of real estate, Sen said.

The board of approval in the commerce ministry has so far given formal clearance to more than 200 special economic zones and in-principle nod to over 160. Of these, seven zones have been given formal approval and 14 in-principle in West Bengal. In comparison, Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh are far ahead, with 47 and 44 formal approvals in place.