Govt grants more time to 18 SEZ developers, units for projects

The government has granted more time to developers and units of as many as 18 special economic zones (SEZ), including those of Gulf Oil Corporation and Lanco Solar, for implementation of their projects.
The decision was taken by the Board of Approval (BOA), chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, in its meeting on June 22.
Gulf Oil Corporation has proposed an IT/ITeS/electronics SEZ in Karnataka.
"The board, after deliberations, extended the validity of the formal approval up to June 17, 2017," the minutes of the BoA meeting said.
The board has also extended the validity of the letter of permission of Lanco Solar, a unit in Lanco Solar SEZ in Chhastisgarh, till June 28, 2017.

The other developers and units which got more time for their projects include Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, BEML, DLF Info Park (Pune) and Tech Mahindra.

Besides, the BoA deferred four proposals for setting up new SEZs including proposal of Wipro, which had sought the board's nod to set up IT/ITeS zone in Kolkata.
"After deliberations, the board deferred the (Wipro's) proposal as the state government recommendation is awaited," it said.
Exports from special economic zones (SEZs) logged a marginal growth of 0.77 per cent to Rs 4.67 lakh crore in 2015-16. The exports from such 204 zones were worth Rs 4.63 lakh crore in 2014-15.

As per the Commerce Ministry's data, these zones have attracted investment worth Rs 3.76 lakh crore and generated employment to 15.91 lakh people as on March 31.
Most of the SEZs are operational in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra.