ComMin to come out with discussion paper on SEZs

The Commerce Ministry will soon come out with a discussion paper on the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the backdrop of a large number of SEZs remaining only on paper and not getting operationalised.

"A large number of SEZs have been formally approved of which only few are in operation," Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs (EPCES) quoted Anup Wadhawan, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry as having said here today.

Of 585 SEZs having been formally approved and 381 getting notified, only 143 are in operation, the EPCES said.

Wadhawan informed the council that the Commerce Ministry is in the process of preparing a discussion paper which will deal with the issues and the problems faced by the SEZs.

In the initial years of the SEZ Act providing liberal tax concessions to the developers of SEZs and the units therein, promoters from the real estate and information technology, among others, made a beeline for the same.

However, after the financial crisis of 2008 and imposition of the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), the developers have lost the zeal with several of them seeking withdrawals of their projects. The proposed Direct Tax Code added to the uncertainty since it does not include the tax sops.

Besides, it is only in a few states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Rajasthan where the tax-free enclaves have come up.