Videocon SEZ okayed

The Board of Approval (BoA) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has approved three special economic zones (SEZs) in the country, including that of Videocon Industries in Navi Mumbai.

The approval was given at the 41st meeting of BoA, which met today under the chairmanship of Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, amid doubts over continuation of tax incentives for the SEZ units and developers.

Unlike the previous BoA meetings, the government today took up very few proposals of setting up SEZs. Last month, the finance ministry had released a revised draft Direct Taxes Code (DTC) that recommended that income-tax benefits to the SEZs be discontinued.

While Videocon Industries was allowed to set up an SEZ for electronics hardware and software in Navi Mumbai over 100 hectares, Coastal Ferrotech Ltd got the approval for its SEZ in Haldia, West Bengal, and Infoparks in Ernakulam district, Kerala.

The government also gave extensions to 24 developers, which included GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, Unitech Kochi SEZ Ltd and K Raheja Corporation.

The decision on a proposal to tighten environment norms for plastic units in SEZs was also deferred.

BoA, which is a 19-member inter-ministerial board, was also supposed to take a call on the guidelines on establishing contiguity in the SEZs. The Department of Revenue has yet to decide on the proposals made in the draft policy prepared by the Department of Commerce.