RBI criticism on SEZ positive’
NEW DELHI, AUG 31: Denying allegations that a large portion of agriculture land was being converted into special economic zones, the commerce ministry on Thursday said the total proposed area for the 225 pending applications for setting up SEZs was about 75,000 hectares–a miniscule 0.000625% of India’s total area under cultivation.
The country’s total agriculture land area was 120 million hectares, the ministry said, adding the 150 formal approvals given for establishing SEZs involved a total of 26,800 hectares.
Interestingly, since an empowered group of ministers decided to take the cap off the number of SEZs, the ministry has not received any SEZ proposal. The two SEZs notified today took the total number notified to 22.
Terming the Reserve Bank of India’s note of caution that SEZs could cause huge revenue drain as positive criticism, commerce ministry special secretary GK Pillai told reporters here the SEZ experience so far showed that the SEZ units developed strong linkages with the domestic tariff area (DTA). SEZs had been sourcing raw material largely from the DTA, he said.
He said the RBI, in its annual report, had lauded the efforts of SEZs in attracting huge foreign and domestic investment, and generating both direct and indirect employment.
Pointing out that the SEZs proposed by State Industrial Development Corporations would be set up over a total area of 9,140 hectares, he said, the land was already in possession of these corporations and was acquired for industrial purposes by state governments much before the introduction of SEZ policy.
Even in other cases, applicants were holding land at the time of making proposals and there were no cases involving fresh land acquisition, he claimed. Besides, Pillai said, even the finance ministry had said, so far there were no instances of abuse of the SEZ Act.
Pillai said SEZs were foreign territory only because they were exempted from the customs rules. But, he said, all the other laws of the land like the IPC and the CrPC would be applicable for SEZs.
Countering allegations on reduced processing area, the official said, according to the norms of the urban development ministry, industrial parks had to have a manufacturing area of only 12-15%.
Compared with this, SEZs should have a minimum processing area of 35%, he said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=139022
The country’s total agriculture land area was 120 million hectares, the ministry said, adding the 150 formal approvals given for establishing SEZs involved a total of 26,800 hectares.
Interestingly, since an empowered group of ministers decided to take the cap off the number of SEZs, the ministry has not received any SEZ proposal. The two SEZs notified today took the total number notified to 22.
Terming the Reserve Bank of India’s note of caution that SEZs could cause huge revenue drain as positive criticism, commerce ministry special secretary GK Pillai told reporters here the SEZ experience so far showed that the SEZ units developed strong linkages with the domestic tariff area (DTA). SEZs had been sourcing raw material largely from the DTA, he said.
He said the RBI, in its annual report, had lauded the efforts of SEZs in attracting huge foreign and domestic investment, and generating both direct and indirect employment.
Pointing out that the SEZs proposed by State Industrial Development Corporations would be set up over a total area of 9,140 hectares, he said, the land was already in possession of these corporations and was acquired for industrial purposes by state governments much before the introduction of SEZ policy.
Even in other cases, applicants were holding land at the time of making proposals and there were no cases involving fresh land acquisition, he claimed. Besides, Pillai said, even the finance ministry had said, so far there were no instances of abuse of the SEZ Act.
Pillai said SEZs were foreign territory only because they were exempted from the customs rules. But, he said, all the other laws of the land like the IPC and the CrPC would be applicable for SEZs.
Countering allegations on reduced processing area, the official said, according to the norms of the urban development ministry, industrial parks had to have a manufacturing area of only 12-15%.
Compared with this, SEZs should have a minimum processing area of 35%, he said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=139022
posted by Sudarshan Rodriguez at 12:42 PM
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