A veterinary Special Economic Zone will be set up at the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's native Pulivendula Assembly constituency in Kadapa district. This is the first of its kind in the country. The SEZ, which will be developed under the public-private partnership mode, will also have Icrisat and South Africa-based International Livestock Research Institute as promoters along with the state government. "The SEZ is designed primarily to help the Indira Gandhi Centre for Advanced Research on Livestock, which was already grounded by the Chief Minister in the same area, achieve self-sustainability,' said Mr P. Ramakrishna Reddy, special secretary, animal husbandry. Of the 650 acres already acquired for the research centre, the government expressed its willingness to allot at least 200 acres for the SEZ. Officials observed that self-sustainability of the research centre will help it carry out its activities in the long run. As the major research in the centre will be on vaccines for dangerous diseases like anthrax, foot and mouth disease (FMD) and blue tongue, the state wants to create the vaccine production facility in the SEZ. "The units are expected to become viable in view of severe shortage of vaccines,' Mr P. Ramakrishna Reddy pointed out.