After mulling over prospects of doing away with the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy, the government has come up with new proposals that looks to contain the amount of land allotted to such projects as well as revive investor interests in SEZs.
In a Notification (Amendment to
SEZ Rules 2006), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced measures to ‘revive investors’ interest in SEZ as well as other provisions, including sale.
According to the new amendments, the words 1000 hectares will be substituted with 500 hectares while 200 hectares will be substituted with 100 hectares. “For a SEZ for a specific sector or for one or more services or in a port or airport, shall have a contiguous area of 50 hectares or more,” the notification stated.
In June 2013, the Export Promotion Council commissioned a study to research and advisory firm Icrier to ascertain if SEZs have met their economic objectives. It was said that existing SEZs would be allowed to remain operational but those approved may not be notified and SEZ developers would be allowed to utilise allotted land for other purposes.
According to government provided data, there are over 170 operational SEZs in India while approvals of over 570 more have been given. Exports from these zones are pegged at $88 billion for FY13 as against $68 billion in the previous year. Investments in these zones are said to be in the range of over $40 billion for FY13 and is said to have created over 10 lakh jobs.
Source : newindianexpress.com