Haryana was planning to set up eight more Special Economic Zones (SEZs), including five mega projects, pending approval by the central government, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Tuesday.

Addressing a joint task force meeting of government officials and industry representatives here, Hooda said that the central government was expected to give its nod for the proposal soon.

The new projects would be in addition to the 10 SEZs already approved for the state. A private sector SEZ, worth Rs.400 billion ($9.038 billion) was being set up by Reliance Industries in collaboration with the state government.

Hooda said that the new SEZs would be set up in the state's hinterland, mainly in Karnal, Ambala, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Rewari, Mahendragarh and Mewat districts, which have seen little industrialisation in the last few decades compared to Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonepat.