Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said the commerce ministry is trying to ease norms for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and make it simpler for units to exit these areas. The ministry is also looking at ways for partial de-recognition of existing SEZs so that areas which have no more demand can be used for industrial or other purposes.
He said ‘There are a large amount of areas lying across SEZs in the country. Now that the sunset clause (for SEZ tax incentives) has set in, probably we may not find enough traction for new people to set up units within SEZ, so we are trying to ease the system of SEZs going forward and make it easier for people to exit from the SEZ status.’
He also said different issues raised by exporters are under consideration of the government. Citing an example, he said the ministry is discussing with its finance counterpart the issues of allowing e-commerce seamlessly for artificial jewellery up to a value of USD 800 and depreciation of second hand goods. He added ‘We are also discussing how the SEZs can play a more important role in the DTA (domestic tariff area) through an equalisation levy.’
