SEZ Bill to define concessions

NEW DELHI: Government on Thursday said the proposed comprehensive Special Economic Zones legislation will define all the concessions to the units located there.

"The SEZ Bill, which will be brought in this session of Parliament, will specify the concessions and it will be all encompassing," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told reporters on the sidelines of the India Trade and Investment Forum here.

He said the Bill is to be taken up by the Cabinet but did not give a time frame.

Asked whether the sunset clause for tax holiday for SEZ units proposed in the Finance Bill and tax benefits for 10 years proposed in the legislation will clash with each other, he said both were stand alone Bills and were different.

Finance Bill proposed to insert a sunset clause which stipulates that no deduction of export profits would be allowed to any undertaking which begins to manufacture or produce articles or computer software after March 31, 2009 in SEZ. However, he said, the Cabinet was yet to take a view on the SEZ Bill.

Confident of exports crossing $ 75 billion this fiscal, he said merchandise and services exports taken together would equal the imports.

Nath said exports would continue their momentum and hoped that the growth next year would also be in the range of over 22 per cent.

Asked about FDI in mining and retail, he said Government was having consultations on the issue.

Pointing that Indian economy was one of the fastest growing economies in the world with average GDP growth being over seven per cent in last ten years; Nath said foreign investment was a critical element of the strategy.

However, he said Government had followed an India-specific model and will continue to follow as the country was very diverse having its own paradoxes like dependence of 600 million farmers on subsistence agriculture.

Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Affairs Minister of Malta Michael Frendo said Malta could become a good base for operations in Africa, EU and the Mediterranean region for India.

He said he was having talks with the Indian Shipping Ministry and all issues related to lack of containers at the Malta port would be sorted out.

Frendo identified sectors like energy, biotechnology, Pharma and Shipping as potential areas of cooperation with India.