Agri-Export Zones miss targets

Agri-Export Zones in West Bengal have failed to meet the envisaged exports and investment targets in its six zones that were notified for commercial production about six years back, reveals a study report released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India on Wednesday.

The six AEZs in West Bengal are for pineapple, lychee, potato, mango, vegetables and Darjeeling tea.

The study reveals that against the export target of Rs 1,217.90 crore (Rs 12.17 billion) set in  2001 for the next six years, actual export has been Rs 85.65 crore (Rs 856. 5 million).

Also, West Bengal was to attract about Rs 354.24 crore (Rs 3.54 billion) of investment in its AEZs but received only Rs 59.28 crore (Rs 592.8 million).

The study further reveals that for the pineapple AEZ, envisaged export was Rs 127 crore (Rs 1.27 billion), while actual export was Rs 0.20 crore (Rs 2 million)

The investment sought in the AEZ was Rs 54.50 crore, and Rs 35.59 crore as the actual investment.

Along with West Bengal, some of the poor-performing states according to he study were UP, MP, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.

The top performers include, Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

The study points out that Rajasthan has failed to attract even a single investment proposal for its coriander and cummin AEZs.