Giving some relief to the government amid anxiety over Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll out, India’s exports from special economic zones (SEZs) jumped 15.4% to Rs 1.35 lakh crore during the first quarter (April-June) of the financial year 2017-18. During the fiscal year 2016-17, exports grew about 12% to Rs 5.24 lakh crore as against Rs 4.67 lakh crore in the financial year 2015-16. Exports from SEZs and export-oriented units (EOUs) contributed about 33% to the country’s total shipments.
According to the commerce ministry data, SEZs have attracted investments worth Rs 4.33 lakh crore up to June this year and the highest numbers of SEZs are operational in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Maharashtra. Besides, till September 7, the government has approved as many as 424 zones, of which 222 are operational. Supplies from the domestic market to SEZs are treated at par with exports under the GST regime to promote exports from these zones.
Chairman of Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) Rahul Gupta has said that in the GST regime, units in SEZs have advantage compared to the units in domestic tariff area. He also urged that the government should set up a proper refund mechanism for duties to be paid by SEZs when they buy products from outside these zones.
