SEZ Bill introduced in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: The long-awaited Special Economic Zone Bill providing for a fiscal package, including 15-year tax holiday and single window clearance mechanism for the units in the zone, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The umbrella legislation, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week, provides for fiscal regime for both developers and units in the zones besides a legislative framework for setting up offshore banking units.

The 56-page SEZ Bill seeks to establish a single enforcement agency to ensure speedy trial and investigation of notified offences committed in such zones.

As per the provisions of the Bill, SEZ units will be eligible for 100 per cent tax exemption for five years, 50 per cent for the next five and 50 per cent of the ploughed back export profits for the next five years.

The developers of the zones will continue to get 100 per cent income tax exemption for 10 years in a block period of 15 years.

It encourages state governments to liberalise state laws and delegate their powers to the development commissioners of the SEZs to facilitate single window clearance.

India already has 11 functioning SEZs. Of these, seven have been set up by central government and four by private/joint/state sector. In addition, approvals have been given for 35 new SEZs in private/state sectors.

The 11 SEZs are functioning in Kandla, Surat, Cochin, Santa Cruz, Falta, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Noida, Indore, Salt Lake (Kolkata) and Jaipur. Two more at Jodhpur and Moradabad are ready for operation. Other SEZs are at various stages of implementation.