DLF to surrender 5 IT/ITeS SEZs; approaches govt

Reeling under a cash crunch, the country's largest real estate player, DLF, has approached the government on surrendering its (DLF's) five of the nine IT-ITeS notified special economic zones (SEZ).

"DLF has nine (notified) IT/ITeS special economic zones, five of them they are dropping ... They have made an application and it will come up after the elections," a senior Commerce Ministry official said today.

However, when contacted, a company spokesperson said, "We do not comment on market speculations".While it cannot be ascertained as why the company plans to drop some of its SEZs, the entire real estate sector has been hit by a credit crunch, which has affected plans of major realty players.

According to industry sources, firms like DLF and Parsvanath have been unable to raise funds for their SEZ projects. Earlier Parsvanath had put on hold its 12 IT/ITeS SEZ projects.

As per the SEZ Act, the tax-free enclaves cannot be surrendered once they become operational. DLF, however, has not started work on the five SEZs that it wants to surrender.

DLF had earlier surrendered its 40-acre IT SEZ in the central Delhi. Its nine notified SEZs are located in various states. It could not be ascertained which SEZs are now sought to be cancelled.