SEZs regain their lost glamour

Special economic zones (SEZ) are again finding place in strategy plans of corporate conglomerates. Six new proposals for setting up SEZs would be coming up in the meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) on June 8.

As many as 12 SEZ projects were surrendered between December 2008 and March 2009. But, no SEZ was surrendered since then.

Companies are gradually realising the potential of investing in such long-term projects. Besides, SEZ will be the only scheme to offer tax rebates to exporters beyond March 31, 2011.

The government has so far approved 574 SEZs, of which 350 have been notified. More than 105 SEZs are operational and have contributed to the revival of the country’s exports to a large extent.

Besides tax benefits, companies are also finding it easier to set up shops in SEZs due to a single-window clearance mechanism.