Centre to rescue of workers at Nokia SEZ

Chennai: Authorities at the Nokia special economic zone at Sriperumbudur  are working to help suppliers sustain operations even after the telecom major shut shop. Any SEZ unit shutting down operations in the country will have to file an exit application with the Central government under Clause 74 or 74 A of the Special Economic Zone Rules, 2006.

The first clause pertains to filing an application to wind up the entire unit owing to its unviability, the second is about transferring its assets, including the letter of approval, for production to a third party. “We have not received any exit application from Nokia on either of the grounds so far. They have only informed us about suspension of operations at the unit from November 1,” a top SEZ official from the commerce ministry told this correspondent. “Even in the case of Foxconn, there has been no intimation from the company about closure or transfer of assets of the units located either in Nokia SEZ or Sipcot SEZ,” he added.

Foxconn also has some land registered under its name as an SEZ developer in the Sriperumbudur area, which has not been operationalised for long. “There has been no exit application for this too,” the official said.In contrast to the general perception of doom at the Nokia SEZ, housing a number of its suppliers, Central government officials are relaxing their approval norms for companies like Lite-On Mobile (formerly Perlos) to help expand their production from mobile plastics to other electronic plastics.

The area vacated by Laird Technologies, engaged in making mobile keypads, has been taken over by another Nokia supplier, Salcomp, which makes power adapters for mobile phones. Dismissing reports about Sriperumbudur losing its sheen as an electronic hub, the commerce ministry official said, “We are trying to help Nokia’s suppliers, who have been affected, in whatever way possible so that the social impact of job loss in the area is minimal.” At their peak, Nokia along with suppliers Salcomp, Foxconn, Lite-On Mobile, Laird and Wintek employed over 25,000 people at the SEZ and had together invested at least $500 million since 2008.