Non-IT services to get SEZ push

NEW DELHI: The proposed Special Economic Zones Act will cover all the 58 services in addition to manufacturing, said commerce and industry minister Mr Kamal Nath. At present, the SEZ scheme covers largely manufacturing activities and limited services such as trading and IT services including R&D. Mr Nath said this in the concluding series of the pre-foreign trade policy interactions with exporters. The policy, the minister said, would give a major thrust to non-IT services sectors such as healthcare, clinical trials and education. Suggesting a major export thrust for services like healthcare and education, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo) said the healthcare industry was $17 trillion worldwide with opportunities cutting across all the four modes of trade including diagnosis/clinical consultations and tele-medicine (Mode 1), health tourism and education & training (Mode 2), establishment of hospitals/diagnostic centres/clinics etc. (Mode 3) and movement of doctors and nurses, consultants, health management personnel etc. (Mode 4). The Fieo urged the government to give healthcare sector the status of an industry for short-term financing and income tax purposes and also the creation of special SEZs for healthcare including hospitals and attached hotels. Further, they urged removal of trade barriers such as restrictions to entry and terms of practice; and restrictions on FDI in this sector. In order to maximise Indiaâ€™s share in the healthcare sector, Fieo is organising a delegation of leading hospital and healthcare specialists to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in August 2004. On education services, they suggested fostering establishment of education export zones, collaborative activities with foreign educational institutions and international mobility of faculty and students. There are 1.8 million international students in higher educational institutions around the world, which is likely to grow to 7.2 million by 2025. While USA attracts the bulk of the foreign students, followed by the UK, Germany, France and Australia, Indiaâ€™s share of foreign students has actually declined from 13,760 in 1993-94 to 7,791 in 2000-01. The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India flagged a number of issues for the ministerâ€™s consideration such as infrastructure status for the hotel industry under Sec 18-1A of the Income-Tax Act, permitting â€œvisa on arrivalâ€� for select source markets for tourism promotion and import of agricultural and dairy products under the zero duty scheme.

Non-IT services to get SEZ push

The proposed Special Economic Zones Act will cover all the 58 services in addition to manufacturing, said commerce and industry minister Mr Kamal Nath.

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