• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Advertisement

New Delhi Jan. 22 Though the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) today ended `inconclusively,' the Government is toying with a proposal to introduce "export obligation" for SEZs so that serious players remain in the field and exports begin from an early date and revenue loss due to tax concessions be stemmed. However, officials were not keen to elaborate on the proposal.

The meeting was chaired by the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and sources indicated that the meeting discussed various issues pertaining to SEZs, including the contentious issue of land acquisition. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, were among the Ministers who attended the meeting.

Mr Nath, later briefing the media, said that the Empowered Group could not decide on the future of new SEZs or the ones already granted in-principle nod at the meeting today due to paucity of time. Old SEZs not affected

The Commerce Secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, later clarified that the already notified 63 SEZs would not be affected by any new rules being framed or under way for the SEZs as the rules would be prospective.

On the issue of imposing time-bound export obligations on SEZs, official sources told Business Line here that this would only "complicate" the concept and add to transaction cost as most of the SEZ developers and units believe that there is "finality" to the SEZ Rules notified by the Revenue Department towards the end of 2006.

They said that in IT SEZs, 100 per cent export was taking place and that the idea of ensuring hassle-free functioning of the SEZs would be lost if the rules were tampered with in the wake of controversies.

Mr Nath said the Centre had asked State Governments to forward details of land acquisitions for all purposes including SEZs. He said the group deliberated on "land issues, rehabilitation policy and possible misuse of tax concessions by SEZs."

He said the Centre could not acquire the land for SEZ purposes, as it was the States that were pro-active.

Till now, the Board of Approvals for SEZs has given final approvals to 237 SEZs and in-principle nod to 165 SEZs. Besides, another 300 applications remain pending.

Both the Central and State Governments have been facing the heat from farmers, non-governmental organisations and opposition parties for allowing big industries to acquire farmland to develop SEZs. Already corporates such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and Gitanjali Gems Ltd have announced plans to set up SEZs, while the national oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has also joined the SEZ bandwagon.

Related Stories:
SEZ exports and MNCs — Seeking a privileged enclave

More Stories on : Foreign Trade | Exports & Imports | Outlook

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
5% of new pension money to be invested in stocks

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line