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Ahmedabad, Jan. 11 Job cut is an issue that all SEZ units in the country are grappling with now, said Mr R. Gopalan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, at the event on SEZs organised by Assocham.

“Just like in other sectors, due to the slowdown, we are getting news from various SEZ units of job cuts at an aggregate of 15 per cent. We are discussing interim measures to reduce job loss and may announce something in the coming weeks,” he said.

Due to the overall economic slowdown, the investment market is cautious and exports to the US and UAE, India’s main export hubs, have been affected.

In order to overcome the situation, new markets will be tapped, he said.

Around Rs 90,000 crore investments have been made in the SEZ sector so far and around 84 per cent, or Rs 66,000 crore worth of goods produced in SEZs, have been exported in the last two years. A new set of recommendations has been made on the New Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Policy for SEZs by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and guidelines for power and ports SEZs are in the final stages of closure, he said.

Mr L.B. Singhal, Director General, Export Promotion Councils for EOUs and SEZs, said that he appreciated the single window facility of the Gujarat government but suggested that a few corrections be made to it.

Firstly, the power of issuing I-forms should be given to the development officer and not the sales tax office.

Secondly, 0.1 per cent cess on imports should be removed. Lastly, implementation should be made speedy, he said.

Against the Centre’s formal approval of 544 cases, 274 notified cases and 87 operational SEZs, Gujarat has formally approved 49 of which 11 have been given the approval in-principle, 26 notified and only eight are operational.

He added that the declaration of SEZs as infrastructure projects and not real estate projects was in the offing post RBI discussions, to facilitate ECBs by the SEZs.

The Minister of Finance, Gujarat, Mr Vaju Bhai Vala, said that having a uniform SEZ Act and package of incentives by the Centre for all States would make managing the SEZs easier.

More Stories on : Employment | Infrastructure | Gujarat

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