The government has given more time to 20 SEZ developers, including Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra World City, to execute their projects. At a meeting on January 14, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed four SEZ developers to surrender their projects.
Special Economic Zones sold by developers after receiving government nod to cash in on the recent boom, would now require fresh clearance from the Centre.
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.
At a recent meeting, the Board of Approval headed by Commerce Secretary S R Rao, also allowed three SEZ developers to surrender their project.
As many as 24 special economic zone (SEZ) developers including Dr Reddy's Lab and Tata Consultancy Services have sought more time from the government to execute their projects.
The Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs has raised the issue with the Finance Ministry and is expecting a favourable response in the Budget. At present, units in the DTAs have to pay two per cent CST on goods bought from the special economic zones.
An announcement to this effect could be made in the Budget scheduled to be unveiled by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on July 6. The decision to permit SEZ developers to raise ECBs, sources said, would promote development of the special economic zones, besides helping the government in arresting decline in the foreign exchange reserves.
Customs duty cannot be levied on electricity supplied from a special economic zone (SEZ) to the domestic market, ruled the Supreme Court on Monday while upholding Adani Power's appeal against a 2019 judgment of the Gujarat high court. The 2019 judgment had denied relief to Adani Power from Customs duty on electricity supplied from its Mundra SEZ unit to the domestic tariff area (DTA).
Developers have sought extension due to reasons such as adverse business climate, slowdown, and delay in approval and environmental clearances.
The BoA, a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with special economic zone -related matters, is scheduled to meet on September 9.
"Out of three SEZs only one has done some work. We will give back all the developers only the money which they had invested in buying the land as we are taking the land back from them," State Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said.
Billionaire Gautam Adani announced the Adani Group is transitioning to a three-layer organisational structure to flatten hierarchy and empower its frontline operations, aiming for faster decision-making and increased accountability.
Cabinet nod not required after commerce ministry approval.
The government will next week consider requests from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group firms and other companies for extension of validity for their different special economic zones.
The Bombay High Court has denied bail to a man accused of trafficking educated youth on the pretext of providing them jobs abroad, only to coerce them to carry out cyber fraud activities.
Reflecting lack of enthusiasm about the SEZs, 20 more promoters have sought additional time from the government for implementing their projects, taking the number of developers seeking extension to over 200.
The Adani Group is exploring strategies to revive Formula 1 racing at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, with Karan Adani expressing strong interest in bringing the sport back to India.
The Budget reflects a clear focus on strengthening India's long-term prospects by leaning on nation-building sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
Other developers that have sought additional time include Alstom Bharat Forge Power, Sesa Sterlite Ltd and Cognizant Technology Solutions. Vedanta Aluminium has asked for extension of the validity of the approval granted by the board for setting up an SEZ in Odisha beyond May 22.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of compromising India's interests on the world stage and selling out farmers and the poor during their time in power.
CBI officers who supervised investigations into the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata and the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar are among those awarded police medals on Republic Day.
Board of Approval has asked the Goa government to compensate the denotified developers over the SEZ issue.
Colliers reports that GCC leasing has jumped from 4.6 million square feet in 2021 and is expected to hit 10.6 million square feet by 2025 -- a clear sign that multinationals see Bengaluru as a long-term base.
Investment proposals for around Rs 1.88 trillion through 35 major agreements, spread across deep tech, green energy, and aerospace, were the hallmark moment of the first day of the two-day "Telangana Rising Global Summit", which started on Monday.
Plans for SEZ development are still in their nascence, Chitty Babu, managing director, Akshaya Homes, said.
Sources familiar with the project said the SPV's promoters were looking at raising the additional capital to acquire up to 250 acres at Thane to complete the first phase of the SEZ project, for which IL&FS is an advisor. Inox Infrastructure Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd, holds 50 per cent stake in Megnasolace.
Digital Connexion, a joint venture between Brookfield, Reliance Industries and Digital Realty, on Wednesday announced an investment of $11 billion till 2030 for building 1 gigawatt (Gw) state-of-the-art AI-native, purpose-built data centres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
As the president of Assocham, Dhoot has asked Confederation of Indian Industry and Ficci to join him in requesting the prime minister to reconsider the move to ban states from acquiring land.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
The developers, including Raheja Ltd, Ascendas, L&T and GMR, among others, are in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Export Promotion Council for export oriented units and special economic zones.
The INDIA bloc has released its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls, promising jobs, restoration of the old pension scheme, and free power, among other things.
The matter has now been escalated and the ministry has written to Customs, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to investigate it thoroughly.
The Centre is unlikely to offer new direct tax incentives for units operating in special economic zones (SEZs) and may instead allow the grandfathering of previous exemptions that such units were entitled to, according to proposed amendments to the SEZ Act, 2005, people aware of the matter said. The amendments, proposed by the commerce department, will soon be considered by the Cabinet for approval. This represents a departure from the department's earlier plan to introduce these changes through the Development Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023, which faced strong criticism from the ministry of finance.
Adani Group said on Friday it will invest around Rs 1 trillion in various sectors of Andhra Pradesh over the next ten years, deepening its commitment in the state where it will partner with Google for an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
The revamped Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law is unlikely to see the light of the day before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, two people aware of the matter said. The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments to the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year. The plan, thereafter, was to introduce the Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Cabinet's approval remains pending.
The special economic zone scheme seems to be in trouble.
Developers had been urging dual usage of their SEZ land since the beginning of global financial recession in 2008.
The Department of Commerce is preparing guidelines for setting up single-window clearance systems in states for special economic zones (SEZs). he move comes after a recent review by the department, in which it was found that the SEZ developers were facing problems in getting approvals in many states.
Senior officials say the government might come up with an incentive package for the SEZs following the release of Foreign Trade Policy.
The developers of special economic zones may not get tax benefits for the money spent on meeting the contiguity norms.
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