| Date: |
04-07-2015 |
| Subject: |
State cabinet approves SEZ policy to attract investment |
BHUBANESWAR: The cabinet on Thursday approved Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Policy, 2015, which aims to widen the state's investment horizon. The meeting was chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The new policy stands to benefit two of the three SEZs existing in the state. They are Tata's multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur and Vedanta's project at Jharsuguda. The third SEZ, Infovalley IT Park is being developed on the outskirts of the city.
According to the draft policy, import of goods and services made to SEZ units located within the processing zone from the domestic tariff area shall be exempted from value added tax (VAT), entry tax, electricity duty and other cess payable on sales and transactions.
Briefing the media, chief secretary G C Pati said the government will waive registration fee and stamp duty on SEZ units while executing loan agreements, land transactions and construction of buildings.
"Under the policy, multi-product SEZs can sub-lease land to other industries for setting up an ancillary unit, but it has to be utilized within five years," he said.
The provisions are not applicable to South Korean steelmaker Posco since it is not a multi-product SEZ, he added.
The policy aims to attract more investors in information technology, biotechnology, electronics, automobiles and auto component manufacturing, ship building, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals.
"The state had formulated its own SEZ in 2003, but withdrew it when Centre came up with one in 2005," Pati said. Besides Odisha, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have formulated state-specific SEZ policies.
Under the proposed policy, the state government will not encourage SEZs based on mining and minerals like iron ore chrome ore and bauxite. However, SEZs based on the use of intermediate products like alumina for smelting, primary metals for further processing on the value chain and rare minerals like tin, ilmenite, nickel, platinum and vanadium will be allowed, said an officer of the industries department.
While Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited will be the nodal agency for attracting investments to the state, the department will take care of administrative works, the officer added.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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