Emerging as the single largest export zone in the country, the Jamnagar SEZ has seen its export nearly touch Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion) till March 2010.
The freeze on special economic zones may go in the next 10 days, with the empowered group of ministers expected to give its nod to proposals that show land has already been tied up.
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.
The revised draft of the Direct Taxes Code would now induce more and more companies to set up their units in the special economic zones before March 31, 2011 as the government has made it clear that it wants to do away with the present provision under which the companies enjoy a 15-year tax exemption.
The officials also said that the ministry of commerce and industry had recommended the Maharashtra government to take back the land acquisition notification that it had issued. The zone has been given in-principle approval by the BoA, as RIL is yet to acquire the requisite land.
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.
Seeking a faster roadmap for Special Economic Zones, Minister of Commerce and Industry Arun Jaitely said on Wednesday that the process of getting the zones ready should not face roadblocks.\n\n\n\n
Mumbai-based Akruti Nirman said on Tuesday it has sought approval from the Board of Approval to set-up three special economic zones, one in Mumbai and two rest in Pune.
The Mumbai SEZ Ltd, promoted jointly by industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his confidant Anand Jain, runs the risk of being scrapped after the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the land acquisition process that otherwise has to conclude by June 8.
Justifying its stand on scrapping of Special Economic Zones projects in Goa, the state government has said the Centre has the power to denotify those which are not operational within the stipulated timeframe.
Adani group saw a 55 per cent profit surge in the fiscal year ended March 2024 as the apples-to-airport conglomerate is back on an expansion spree and eyeing a $90 billion capex over the next decade. Emerging from a damning report of a US short seller, which hit market value of its listed companies, Adani group in 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024) fiscal focused on containing debt, reducing founder share pledge and consolidating business in core competencies.
Essar group on Friday said it will invest Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) in a special economic zone at Hazira and augment the steel manufacturing capacity to nine million tonnes, besides expanding the Vadinar refinery.
Buying of land should be left to developers and land owners: Venkaiah.
Developers have sought extension due to reasons such as adverse business climate, slowdown, and delay in approval and environmental clearances.
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 government is considering enacting a law making it mandatory for industries to rehabilitate the displaced people before developing projects under the special economic zones.
Commerce Ministry has sought clarification from Finance Ministry over calculation of profits from SEZ units.
Nasdaq-listed Infosys has said it was the failure of the state government in fulfilling the agreed conditions that led to the delay in executing its 448-acre IT Special Economic Zone project in Hyderabad.
Though the Planning Commission favours imposition of a direct tax on Special Economic Zones (SEZs), it does not agree with the contention that these tax-free industrial enclaves are leading to revenue loss.
In a bid to take forward labour reforms, the government on Thursday said units in the special economic zones will be exempted from making contributions to Employees Provident Fund and Employees State Insurance for five years.
The government is likely to accord special economic zone status to the proposed mega food parks that come up during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12).
According to the revised DTC draft, which will replace the Income Tax Act of 1961, tax exemptions for SEZs will be confined to the existing units.
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 them.
The Board of Approval on Tuesday cleared 10 special economic zone proposals, including three Mukesh Ambani-promoted IT zones in Navi Mumbai.
Reliance Industries Ltd said its two other proposed SEZs in Mumbai would contribute Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) to the country's exports once they are operational.\n
"We will write to the Centre to scrap the eight proposals pending for approval while we will not notify the four (SEZs) that are already approved. About the rest three, we will take up the matter with the Centre to denotify them," said Chief Minister Digamber Kamat.
The commerce ministry had, in March, put on hold this change in the SEZ rules.
Former West Bengal chief minister and a front-ranking Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will go down in the country's history as a pragmatic communist who kept aside his ideological convictions to woo capital for the industrialisation of his state.
The price surge at Jhajjar has more to do with skyrocketing land prices near the SEZ site plus a recent rumour that the Haryana government may increase the minimum price for land acquisition to more than Rs 55 lakh (Rs 5.5 million) per acre.
The Reliance Industries special economic zone at Jamnagar in Gujarat, which had been given a sector-specific status (petroleum and petro-chemicals) earlier, was today modified to a multi-product zone by the board of approval, which met in New Delhi.
Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation to establish an IT/ITeS special economic zone at Shollinganallur, on Chennai's IT corridor, at an investment of Rs 1,500 crore.
The Maharashtra government has turned down Centre's proposal to scale down the size of Reliance Industries' Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone
Asserting that India had removed many barriers in trade and investment
In addition to the negative sentiment as a consequence of changes announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 concerning tax treatment for debt repayment distribution, concerns about hiring slowdown and its leasing impact, as well as higher interest rates, could blight the sector in the near term.
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.
Notwithstanding the widespread protest against the proliferation of special economic zones in the country, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organising a seminar on the tax-free conclaves in Singapore on Wednesday in order to rope in global investors.
Despite the special incentives they get, SEZs today comprise under 5% of all fresh investments announced in the country.
