BoA to mull new SEZ proposals on March 25 meet

The Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar will take up requests for setting up new special economic zones (SEZ) in the country on March 25.

The BoA will also take up other issues related to the tax-free enclaves, the Commerce Ministry said.

"The 45th meeting of the BoA on SEZs to consider proposal for setting up of SEZs and other miscellaneous requests is scheduled to be held on March 25," it said.

In the last meeting, the BoA had approved three new proposals for setting up SEZs, including Mahindra World City (Jaipur). The board had also given more time to 20 SEZ developers, including Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra World City, to execute their projects.

The BoA is a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with SEZs and related issues.

So far, 582 SEZs have been formally approved by the BoA, of which 130 are in operation. SEZs have emerged as major sources for attracting investment and increasing exports in the country.

SEZs contributed 35% to the country's export revenue in 2009-10. Exports from these zones stood at Rs 2,23,132 crore during the April-December, 2010-11, period, as against Rs 1,51,785 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Shipments from SEZs increased from Rs 22,840 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 2,20,711 crore in 2009-10.