When every sector in India is setting up special economic zones, can commodities be far behind?

For the first time, a Gujarat-based company has announced plans to set up a commodity-specific SEZ. And the main commodity that will occupy the centre-stage of SEZ will be cotton.

The SEZ will have only textile units that will manufacture end-products using Shankar 6 cotton.

Promoters of PR Tradelink, a Vapi-based cotton exporting company, said their SEZ will be a one-stop-shop to treat this variety of cotton -- right from ginning to spinning to weaving and garmenting from this cotton variety.

"We are setting up to promote Shanker 6 cotton. This is going to be India'
s first economic zone dedicated to a commodity," the company promoter Naimish Ravani told Commodity Online.

He said already the company has started getting inquiries including from some foreign yarn importers who want to set up units in an SEZ.

At present, cotton is getting transported to Coimbatore for ginning that has become prohibitively costly.

"Our plan is to provide world-class ginning facilities in the SEZ," Ravani added.

India's great rush for SEZs