The draft direct tax code that will lead to overhaul of the Income Tax Act, has created uncertainty among the developers and units in the special economic zones over continuation of the tax sops.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd climbed two spots to No. 53 on Forbes' latest Global 2000 list of public companies worldwide. Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest companies in the world using four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value, Forbes said releasing the 2022 ranking of the world's top 2,000 companies. Reliance is the top-ranked Indian firm on the list, followed by State Bank of India at No. 105, HDFC Bank at No. 153 and ICICI Bank at No. 204.
Reeling under a cash crunch, the country's largest real estate player, DLF, has approached the government on surrendering its (DLF's) five of the nine IT-ITeS notified special economic zones (SEZ).
The government has broadened the ambit of services exempted from service tax for Special Economic Zones as services provided to these zones even from outside would not be taxable.
DLF has sought the denotification of four of its IT/ITeS SEZs that were to come up in Haryana, Gujarat, Orissa and Kolkata, due to slowdown in the economy and liquidity crunch in the overall industry. The decision on the denotification would be taken on the June 2 meeting of the Board of Approval in the commerce ministry.
In one of its many arguments, North Block has maintained that direct tax exemptions may be viewed as a subsidy by importer countries, which may then impose countervailing duties on exports from Indian special economic zones. The issue is pending with the empowered group of ministers on special economic zones headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
In what may be a sign of the changing political environment ahead of general elections, the Centre has turned down the Maharashtra government's proposal to provide labour law flexibility in special economic zones.
Shares of Adani Green Energy (AGEL) continued their upward movement, hitting a new high of Rs 1,955.90, up 2.6 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.77 per cent at 60,285 at 11:01 am. In the past 14 trading sessions, the stock of the renewable energy arm of the diversified Adani Group has zoomed 50 per cent from Rs 1,307.05 on December 30, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 4.3 per cent during the same period.
The commerce ministry on Wednesday reiterated that the three notified special economic zones in Goa could not be scrapped by the Centre. It added that the issue had to be sorted between the state government and developers of the zones. Even as the Goa government has raised the issue of scrapping three notified special economic zones with the Centre, the state administration has till date not sent any formal communication to the SEZs in this regard.
Replying to supplementaries to a host of questions on SEZs in Rajya Sabha, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said special economic zones have become important engines of economic growth. The minister's reply triggered angry reactions from Left, BJP and some Congress members, who claimed that SEZs have become real estate business as norms are being violated and sought a special discussion on the matter.
"It has been two years since the Special Economic Zone Act and rules came into effect. While exports have grown almost 100 per cent to touch Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) in the first nine months of the current fiscal, total incremental employment generated by the operational SEZs after February 2006 is 146,128," according to the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZ.
Medha Patkar on what she calls the Special Exploitation Zones.
SEZs will help alleviate the infrastructure deficit in the country.
SEZs will help alleviate the infrastructure deficit in the country.
Foxconn, a leading Taiwan based manufacturer of connectors for use in personal computers and printed circuit boards for mobile phones, will set up $110 million plant in Chennai to manufacture mobile handset and other components..
This military visit came amid heightened tensions between China and United States, with issues pertaining to disagreements over Taiwan and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even the best of government policies rarely satisfy the corporate sector. So, it is perhaps surprising that the year 2006 saw a scheme over which all business houses -- big and small alike -- were falling head over heels.
The current total installed capacity of the seven manufacturers of remdesivir is 38.80 lakh vials per month, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said in a statement.
Wipro is close to setting up an IT park in Nagpur and is believed to have acquired 117 acres of land at the new special economic zone in the city.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched real estate developer DLF Universal's Special Economic Zone project here, as part of initiatives to revive the state's industrial sector.
Asia's first Special Economic Zone, the Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ), will go completely wi-fi in the next few months.
The finance ministry has tightened the noose around developers of special economic zones by disallowing tax concessions to their contractors involved in the construction work.
Gautam Adani was the world's third and Asia's richest man a month back but a damning report by a US firm triggered a massive sell-off in shares of his apples-to-airport group, plunging his own wealth by $80 billion and the tycoon slipping to No.30 on the world billionaire index. Adani's sprawling conglomerate, which spans from sea ports to airports, edible oil and commodities, energy, cement and data centres, is under attack by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which successfully deflated electric-vehicle maker Nikola Motors in 2020. Hindenburg, which held short positions in unidentified shares of Adani Group firms through its US-traded debt and offshore derivatives, on January 24 accused the conglomerate of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" and using a number of offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices.
A policy was introduced on 1 January 2000 to set up special economic zones in India to provide an internationally competitive environment for exports.
The government on Wednesday said provisions of Press Note 2 (2005 series), which allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in townships
Senior government officials says the matter was discussed at a meeting of the ministerial group on special economic zones (SEZ) last week.
IT services giant Infosys will start construction of a proposed software development centre in the metropolis by July 2021, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday. The project will generate massive employment in the IT sector, she said after a cabinet meeting at the state secretariat.
Software giant Wipro Ltd is planning to invest in another software development complex in West Bengal if it gets the special economic zone status from the central government.
Total outflow and inflow of foreign investment in general for 2014-15 fiscal was $6.42 bn and $75.71 bn, respectively
'I never thought the European audience will love this film, but we had over 2,000 people at the screening.'
