Officials of Reliance Ventures, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), today signed an agreement with and Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) to set up a joint venture, Reliance Haryana SEZ Private Limited. Present on the occasion were Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana chief minister.

As reported earlier in the morning . RIL would invest Rs 25,000 crore to set up one the largest Special Economic Zones in the country in Haryana in association with HSIDC. RIL is expected to hold 90-per cent stake in the JV with HSIDC holding the rest.

The multi-product SEZ would be set up over 25,000 acres of land and the Haryana government would transfer a 1,700-acre plot to RIL. The balance land would be acquired by RIL directly.

RIL is planning to set up a fully contained facility with an international cargo airport, 2,000-megawatt power plant and railway connections. The company is also expected to set up an inland container depot and a dry port.

RIL has reportedly projected an additional investment of Rs1 lakh crore (approximately $22 billion) by other companies setting up facility within the SEZ. RIL is targeting companies from the ITeS and entertainment sectors also to set up units in the SEZ.

The signing ceremony, which was originally fixed for last week, had to be postponed because of opposition from some political quarters. With the Congress leadership asking state leaders not to protest against the project, the deal is all set to be concluded.

RIL is also planning to take Reliance Haryana SEZ public within a period of three years.

RIL is already working on a fully integrated township near Mumbai, which would also see massive investments. The company is reportedly considering three more mega-sized SEZ projects in other parts of the country. Large investments in agro-processing and retailing are being considered in the states of Punjab and West Bengal and negotiations with the state governments are under way.