Hiranandani is planning to set up a 250-acre multi-services SEZ in Hyderabad. They have tied up with city-based Lahari Infrastructure Limited, in a 50:50 joint venture.
A senior state government official said, "Reliance managed to buy the land through direct negotiations with farmers." The state government would forward the company's application to the Centre as soon as it came with an official proposal, he added.
As per the SEZ Act, 2005, and SEZ Rules, 2006, SEZ units are entitled to exemption from duty of customs and excise, exemption from service tax and VAT, exemption from stamp duty and registration fees and exemption from electricity duty, besides income tax exemption on export profits.
The much-awaited policy for mandatory rehabilitation of land owners displaced by industrial projects and SEZs might get delayed with the matter being referred to a Group of Ministers.
The change in the latest Budget will impact the sale and rent of SEZ units of companies like Adani Port, which has large SEZs in Mundra.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based GVK Group to set up a Rs 1,500-crore (Rs 15 billion) multi-products special economic zone in 3,000 acres in Perambalur district.
The BoA also allowed three developers, including Unitech Infopark, to surrender their SEZs, he said, adding they would have to pay back the tax concessions availed while executing the projects and other pending dues.
The government would consider fresh applications for SEZs on December 15.
Domestic equipment hiring firm Gremach Infrastructure Equipments and Projects Ltd on Monday said it will invest Rs 425 crore (Rs 4.25 billion) in the Gandhinglaj Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Maharashtra.
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.
The IT and IT-enabled services companies will be provided space in the proposed SEZ. The proposal awaits final approval from the Board of Approval. SIDCUL has been appointed the nodal agency for the proposed IT SEZ which would invite Expression of Interests from top reputed companies. The sources said top IT multinational companies like Infosys could be invited for the development of the IT SEZ, which is being set up over 14.2 hectares.
The government plans to modify the access control norms for special economic zone, which prescribes for a wall and a fencing of a particular height, and make them flexible on demands from the developers.
Last week, the 20-hectare zone had got embroiled in a controversy amid reports that the state government was taking back the land. This was after allegations that the land was allotted in an unfair manner. But Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy said the government would not cancel the allocation as the company was "sound."
Capping the size of special economic zones to 5,000 hectare may help governments quell social unrest caused by compulsory land acquisition for such projects.
The Maharashtra government plans to set up the country's first power SEZs with an installed capacity of around 1,250 MW electricity to meet the needs of the large number of industrial units being established in the state.
Approaches Morgan Stanley, GIC and Blackstone
G-VIC is inspired by global high technology innovation clusters such as the Silicon Valley in the US, Hsinchu in Taiwan, Tsukuba in Japan and Sofia Antipolis in France. It has been conceptualised and is led by leading professionals from diverse fields. The company, chaired by former central vigilance commissioner N Vittal, is in close talks with international firms to partner the project.
Even in the midst of a liquidity crunch, Special Economic Zones still remain a lucrative investment option among developers. The government on Monday cleared 22 of these tax-free industrial enclaves.
The government is considering enacting a law making it mandatory for industries to rehabilitate the displaced people before developing projects under the special economic zones.
Questions over proposed changes in land use are piling up, even as the commerce ministry and Maharashtra government are rushing to give in-principle approvals and conditional no-objection certificates to special economic zone developers.
Mumbai-based Zoom Developers, engaged in diversified businesses including real estate, plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in the next three years to construct a 100 hectare IT-ITeS special economic zone at Indore.
The two countries have already formed a Steering Committee to carry forward the proposals, one of which relate to setting up a 2,500-acre multi-product SEZ in the south.
The commerce ministry had, in March, put on hold this change in the SEZ rules.
Special economic zones may have got the green signal from the group of ministers, but it is now being termed as unconstitutional.
The Board of approval in the commerce ministry took these decisions along with approving two fresh proposals of Shyam Steel Industries and Limitless Properties in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, respectively. The BoA also ratified extension of time to 23 developers, including Satyam Computer Services, for implementing tax-free enclaves in the wake of economic slowdown.
The government on Monday proposed to levy Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) of 18.5 per cent on the book profits of Special Economic Zone developers and units, which was termed as a 'setback' by the players.
Real estate and hotels major Royal Palms will invest around Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) to set up an IT/ITeS special economic zone in Mumbai that would be ready for occupation by end of next year.
According to NASSCOM and McKenzie, it is projected that Indian IT sector will need around nine million employees and currently it has only 3.2 million, he informed.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories is setting up two special economic zones -- one each at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The trust has got the government's approval to set up a fifth terminal at the port. The terminal, which will have a capacity of 8-10 million cubic metre, is likely to cost JNPT Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
Sources close to the development said RIL, which was planning two adjacent economic zones in the coastal district of Raigarh in Maharashtra, is looking to set up three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to develop the various components of the project.
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