NEW DELHI: The units inIT and ITeS special economic zones may soon be allowed to lease out space from their premises, giving them a rental revenue, sources said.
But these units will have to form special purpose vehicles to be given the status equivalent to the developers, as only they can lease out premises in the special economic zones (SEZs).
The permission for leasing out excess space would however be subject to approval from the inter-ministerialBoard of Approval on SEZ, they said.
Initially theRevenue Department had certain reservations on the issue. "They have come on board now".
Out of 143 operational, about 60 per cent are in the IT/ITeS sector and are mostly concentrated in southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
With imposition of 18.5 per centMinimum Alternative Tax and uncertainties over continuation of the tax benefits after introduction of Direct Tax Code, the investments in SEZs have slowed down.
Welcoming the move, industry experts said the step would help IT units at a time when there are uncertainties over continuation of tax benefits to the tax free enclaves.
"Some people have made huge investments in their units and because of this they have surplus space. After the uncertainties over continuation of the tax benefits to SEZs, those surplus space needs to be leased out,"Raheja Developers Chairman Navin M Raheja said. Raheja have an engineering
SEZ in Gurgaon.
O P Kapoor, Deputy Director General,Export Promotion Council for
EOUs and SEZ (EPCES)), too said that the decision would help in increasing exports as more and more units will come up in the zones.
"It will boost exports," Kapoor said. Merchandise exports from 143 operational SEZs totalled Rs 72,255 crore in the April-June period, an increase of 23 per cent over the same period last year.
During 2010-11, exports from SEZs jumped 43 per cent to Rs 3.15 lakh crore compared to Rs 2.20 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com