Numberceiling on zones may go

NEW DELHI: The government will hold a review on raising the ceiling on the number of special economic zones (SEZ) from the present 150, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath has said. The limit of 150 has already been exhausted and the board of approval for SEZs is flooded with scores of fresh applications.

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee had placed the limit on the number of SEZs to be approved. “There was no final limit to the number of SEZs that can be established. The limit of 150 was set to see the response.

Now, a review will be held,” Mr Nath said on Thursday at a marketing summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The government has received close to 400 proposals from both public and private sector players including Nokia, Reliance, Wipro and ONGC.

“When the limit was set, we had decided to review the situation once we reached the 150 mark. The SEZ Act does not put any limit to the number of SEZs that can be set up across the country,” Mr Nath said. Some states including Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have written to the Centre seeking a lifting of the cap.

The EGoM will now have to take a call on whether there should be an increase in the ceiling and to what extent should it be increased. While the finance ministry wants to restrict the number of SEZs as it feels that it would lead to a huge drain in its resources, the commerce ministry wants the cap to go.