No more than 62% of farmland acquired for Special Economic Zones has been used for its intended purpose of boosting manufacturing, exports and jobs
Its new industrial policy appears to benefit industrial houses
References to the repealed laws for service tax, purchase tax, etc, continue in the SEZ laws.
Senior officials say the government might come up with an incentive package for the SEZs following the release of Foreign Trade Policy.
Three years after the government brought in a SEZ law promising greater economic activity on the back of tax sops, the Economic Survey on Thursday expressed concern over 'proliferation' of Special Economic Zones seeking a check on them.
After subdued earnings in the first half amid global headwinds, India Inc is taking a cautious approach on their capital expenditure (capex) for the second half of the financial year ending March 2025, according to management commentary. Minutes from the October monetary policy meeting show the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) optimism about private investments picking up.
"Another major policy issue in the trade sector which created a lot of heat was that of SEZs... Some fundamental policy changes are needed for the merchandise trade sector and these include checking the proliferation of SEZs," the pre- Budget Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, said.
In 2011, the Trinamool manifesto had said, the government would not allow SEZs in West Bengal, to protect multi-crop lands.
In Andhra Pradesh, a maximum of 2,044.15 hectares of land are lying vacant.
Changing the rules of the game for developers or units who have already committed funds upsets the financial calculations that guided the investment decision. It is another matter if the government makes it clear that newcomers will be subject to taxes.
The second campus would have the potential to create around 18,000 jobs
Finance firms in these SEZs likely to get tax breaks.
First reversal after last year's protests in the state.
The government on Wednesday relaxed its policy for IT SEZs and allowed the employees to carry out their duties even from home.
The pro-SEZ lobby is claiming that the benefits of dam are going to be minimal for these villages as the irrigation department has already committed water for various other purposes. However, the anti-SEZ activists are claiming that enough water is still available in the dam to irrigate the land in 22 villages.
Worried over the impact of global slowdown on exports, the Commerce Ministry has initiated an exercise to revitalise SEZs, which contribute over Rs 3 lakh crore, or about 28 per cent, to the country's total outbound shipments.
Cabinet nod not required after commerce ministry approval.
The JD-U flayed the ruling United Progressive Alliance government for its policy on special economic zones calling it "the biggest real estate scam in India" and sought immediate suspension of implementation of the "anti-farmer act".
When asked what the Infosys stand will be, Binod Hampapur, senior vice-president and global head of commercial and corporate relations at Infosys, said that the company will wait for the letter before the company makes any comment.
Another priority in the first 100 days could be the launch of an e-platform -- Trade Connect -- to help exporters connect with stakeholders of international trade.
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 Reserve Bank of India on Thrusday ruled out any concessional finance to developers and units in these zones, saying they should be treated on par with real estate projects.\n
Infosys has asked the West Bengal govt to give them land or repay the token amount the former had paid earlier.
Faced by criticism on its special economic zone policy, the government is preparing guidelines for acquisition of land from farmers for setting up SEZs.
Facing all-round attack over Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee sought on Wednesday a 'fresh look' into the Centre's policy on SEZs, which he felt should be restricted to select industries. He also wanted the Centre to fix a ceiling on land for a particular type of SEZ and work out the percentage of land area to be compulsorily utilised for industries within that limit.
With the new SEZ policy in place, tax sops can only rise - the issue is whether these result in higher investment and jobs, or more corruption.
The I&B minister's banning of AXN channel and threatening to ban 4 more channels for so-called obscene content has surprised many.
At least clear zones where firms have own land, says minister.
Approaches Morgan Stanley, GIC and Blackstone
The meeting of the empowered group of ministers on special economic zones could not reach any firm view on on Monday while the government will take the rehabilitation policy to the Cabinet next month.
When land was allotted to PSUs in the past, care was taken to ensure this was wasteland - it makes sense to do the same for private industry today.
The decision regarding this was taken by the Board of Approval in its meeting on September 18.
Making it clear that the SEZ policy has come to stay in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said a humane and just policy on the resettlement of land oustees was being formulated by the government.
Out of 389 SEZs notified, 170 are operational, Export Promotion Council for export-oriented units and special economic zones (EPCES) said in a statement.
According to Nasscom, India must make its R&D significantly more robust to realise the 'Make in India' dream
The eGoM, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to take up issues including demand from developers to revise the 5,000 hectare land ceiling for one SEZ.
The government may look at relaxing 5,000 hectare-ceiling on land for Special Economic Zones once the the Land Acquisition Act is in place, commerce secretary G K Pillai said on Monday. "Now that the new Relief & Rehabilitation policy has come into being, the government may think of relaxing the upper limit of 5,000 hectares for SEZs (once the land acquisition law is enacted), he said on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit.
The government will treat sales from domestic tariff area to Special Economic Zones as exports in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment, which could turn out to be an engine of growth.
A day ahead of the interim Budget, India slashed import duty on spare parts, like battery cover, lens and SIM socket, used in mobile phone manufacturing to 10 per cent, from 15 per cent. The duty cut is aimed at boosting local production and exports, as well as reducing prices in local markets. The finance ministry on January 30, notified the cut in duty on all goods for use in manufacture of cellular mobile phones to 10 per cent.
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