Mahanadu Gives IFFCO Kisan SEZ a Surprise Makeover

Nellore:What began as a political mega event is now turning into an unexpected infrastructure boost for the long-overlooked IFFCO Kisan SEZ near Nellore.

As preparations gather pace for the Telugu Desam’s prestigious Mahanadu conclave, nearly 400 acres inside the sprawling 2,776-acre SEZ are witnessing massive jungle clearance and land levelling works – activity the industrial zone had rarely seen in its 25-year history.

Ironically, the transformation is coming at virtually no cost to IFFCO.

While the TD leadership reportedly examined three different venues for the mega event, the party high command finally chose the Kisan SEZ because of its strategic connectivity to NH-16, the nearby Nellore and Kavali towns, and the Chennai-Kolkata railway line. Krishnapatnam and Ramayapatnam ports, and the upcoming Dagadarthi Greenfield Airport, are also not far away from the SEZ.

The decision appears to have accidentally gifted the SEZ its biggest publicity campaign yet.

For years, despite possessing prime industrial advantages, the SEZ remained largely underutilised, with only about 275 acres reportedly allotted to industries so far. Industry circles often blamed the high land pricing and development costs for slowing investor interest.

Normally, IFFCO undertakes expensive groundwork — including bush clearance, levelling, drainage, power and road laying — only after industries are allotted land, as developing a single acre can cost anywhere between `30 lakh and `40 lakh.

Now, giant earthmovers and Mahanadu organisers are doing much of that work across hundreds of acres.

Locals quip that Mahanadu has done in weeks what industrial promotion agencies could not achieve in decades — making people finally notice the vast SEZ spread along the national highway.

IFFCO officials, however, defended their pricing policy, saying land is offered competitively to industries that come with serious implementation plans, pointing to several industrial plots elsewhere that remain idle for years after allocation.

Still, even SEZ insiders admit the political event has brought an undeniable advantage: free exposure, improved land readiness, and renewed attention to a project many had nearly forgotten.

With the bushes disappearing and the terrain flattening rapidly, some industry observers now wonder whether Mahanadu may end up becoming the unlikely turning point that transforms IFFCO Kisan SEZ into Andhra Pradesh’s next industrial hotspot — perhaps even a future rival to Sri City.