Over 90 per cent SEZs' land lying vacant: Government

NEW DELHI: Over 90 per cent of the area notified for setting up 58 special economic zones in different states in the last five years are lying vacant, Parliament was informed today.

As much as 4,480.13 hectares of land are lying vacant as against the total notified area of 4,842.38 hectares to set up these special economic zones (SEZs).

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that 362.25 hectares was being utilised to set up these 58 SEZs.

"Land for SEZs is procured as per the policy and procedures of the respective state governments. The central government does not acquire any land for SEZs."

"The Board of Approval for SEZs only considers those proposals, which have been duly recommended by the state government," she said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

In Andhra Pradesh, a maximum of 2,044.15 hectares of land are lying vacant followed by Maharashtra (536.13 hectares) and Tamil Nadu (295.51 hectares).

During April-September this fiscal, exports from these zones stood at Rs 2.21 lakh crore as against Rs 4.63 lakh crore in 2014-15.

During the first half of this fiscal, these zones have generated employment for 15.44 lakh people.

Replying to a separate question on exports, the minister said that India's agricultural products exports during April-October this year was aggregated at USD 17.95 billion.

As per the WTO, India's share in world exports of agricultural products was 2.5 per cent. India ranks 7th among the leading exporters of agricultural products.

The top five destinations for agricultural products export include the US, Vietnam, Japan, Belgium and Spain.