Maharashtra to enact SEZ law

The Maharashtra Govt is in the process of enacting its own SEZ law to deal with state- specific issues like land acquisition, faced by developers of the tax-free enclaves.

The Maharashtra Government is in the process of enacting its own SEZ law to deal with state- specific issues like land acquisition, faced by developers of the tax-free enclaves.

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The Centre has already cleared the draft bill of the SEZ Act of the Maharashtra government, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai informed SEZ developers.

Most of the issues pertaining to SEZs in the state would be taken care of once the SEZ Act is implemented.

Addressing a meeting of the Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs in Mumbai last week, Pillai said the Centre, on its part, is looking into the issue of export duty on steel which is taken into the SEZs from the domestic tariff area.

"We are aware of this. It is a problem and we are making an attempt to resolve this," the Commerce Secretary said.

Other demands from developers like extension of service tax exemptions would be placed before the empowered Group of Ministers. Pillai did not specify as to when the eGom, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, would meet.

Maharashtra has, so far, got 89 SEZs with formal approval, 37 with in-principle clearance and 27 notified zones. It tops the list in the country with the maximum amount of the tax-free enclaves, major among them being by Wipro, Infosys, Reliance Infocomm, Bajaj Auto, Hiranandani, Navi Mumbai and Ispat.

Pillai further said that based on the representations received from the developers, the Department of Commerce was considering bringing amendments in the SEZ Rules to simplify procedures for development of SEZs in the country.