Giving some respite to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) struggling with global economic slowdown, the government has granted more time to some 115 SEZs developers to execute their projects during April 2012 and November 2013. Earlier, SEZs developers had sought extension of validity period citing reasons like delay in approvals from statutory/state government bodies, adverse business climate because of global economic turmoil, delay in environmental clearance, lack of demand for space in SEZs and changed fiscal incentive regime.
The government has approved 576 such zones out of which 175 have commenced exports. Further, the exports from these zones stood at Rs 2.46 lakh crore during April- September this fiscal. In 2012-13, it was Rs 4.76 lakh crore, which is about 30 per cent of the country's total exports. Among the total 175 SEZs operation in the country, a maximum of 40 are present in Andhra Pradesh followed by Tamil Nadu having 34, 22 in Karnatka and 20 in Maharashtra.
Over the past two years, investments in SEZs have reduced owing to the imposition of taxes and the requirements of certain clearances, denting the attractiveness of these units. Meanwhile, the government has started taking measure to ease SEZs norms, which will be helpful to enhance country’s industrial development and increase exports. In an attempt to revive investors’ interest in the zones, Commerce Ministry has recently slashed the minimum area requirement for setting up SEZs.
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