The commerce ministry has projected Rs 21,631.94 crore (Rs 216.31 billion) worth of exports from the 63 special economic zones, which have been notified since February 2006. Till date, Rs 13,435 crore (Rs 134.35 billion) has been invested in these zones.

In addition, the ministry has also estimated a 201 per cent increase in export earnings from all the SEZs at Rs 67,299 crore (Rs 672.99 bilion), over Rs 22,309 crore (Rs 223.09 billion) in 2005-06. Export figures of SEZs in 2006-07 are being compiled and would be available after this month.

According to the commerce ministry projections, the seven government SEZs are likely to export goods worth Rs 25,550 crore (Rs 255.5 billion) in the financial year 2007-08, which is 30 per cent higher than Rs 19,656.7 crore (Rs 196.56 billion) in 2005-06.

Zones which were set up prior to the SEZ Act in February, 2006, are expected to increase their exports by a staggering 532 per cent to Rs 20,117.68 crore (Rs 201.17 billion) in 2006-07, compared to Rs 3,182.86 crore (Rs 31.82 billion)in 2005-06. At the moment, there are 12 such zones while in 2005-06, only eight of them existed.

Among the 63 notified zones, which came into existence after the SEZ Act, the Flextronics' electronic hardware zone near Chennai has the highest projection of exports at Rs 6,901 crore (Rs 69.01 billion). The 440-acre zone has seen investments worth Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) till now.

The 247 acre Essar-Hazira zone for engineering products in Gujarat is expected to garner exports worth Rs 3,300 crore (Rs 33 billion). Already, Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) has been invested in the SEZ.

The third is the EON Kharadi Infrastructure zone near Pune for IT and ITeS, which is likely to see exports of Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) in 2007-08. The present investments in the 18-acre SEZ stands at Rs 184 crore (Rs 1.84 billion).

Other zones with high export earnings projections include the Serum Bio-pharma park in Pune (Rs 1,200 crore or RS 12 billion), Moser Baer SEZ in Greater Noida (Rs 895 crore or Rs 8.95 billion) and Mundra port zone in Gujarat (Rs 639 crore or Rs 6.39 billion).

India's great rush for SEZs: Complete Coverage