Special Economic Zone

Adani Ports to acquire 80% stake in Astro Offshore for $185 million

The company in a statement said the existing promoters of Astro will hold the remaining 20 per cent stake

No exemption for SEZ units under the proposed Central Excise Bill

Officials get to audit businesses; duty recovery time increases to three years

Adani Ports & SEZ shares stable a day after Norway's Norges Bank exit

Norges had cited Adani's investment in a port in Myanmar for its decision

Tamil Nadu among best states in country for economic zone: DP World

Tamil Nadu is one of the best states in the country for an economic zone as the state is one of the most industrialised in India, a senior official of global logistics company DP World has said. DP World has started operations at its largest free trade warehouse zone in India in Chennai. The Chennai facility is the company's second free trade warehouse zone (FTWZ) in India after Mumbai that was established 18 months old. DP World's CEO -- Economic Zones, India Subcontinent and MENA, Ranjit Ray, said Chennai also has strategic advantages since it is connected to South Asia, Africa, Australia via the sea route. "Tamil Nadu is one of the best states in the country for an economic zone. We just started business and now have 15 per cent occupancy in six months," he said. DP World's Chennai economic zone is spread over 6 lakh sq ft with a potential to grow to 2 million sq ft. Tamil Nadu has been one of the most industrialised states in the country for the last 40-50 years, Ray said. D

ReNew, JERA to jointly evaluate green ammonia projects in Odisha

ReNew also has a joint venture called GH4India Pvt Ltd with state-owned oil company Indian Oil Ltd and manufacturing major L&T to jointly set up a green hydrogen business

Revamped SEZ law unlikely before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections

The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments in the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year

Govt working on reforms for Special Economic Zones: Commerce secretary

The government is working on reforms in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) domain so that movement of goods between domestic tariff area (DTA) and SEZ space is carried out smoothly without affecting the competitiveness of goods in the export markets, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Saturday. During the pandemic two years ago, many office spaces in the SEZ areas had been vacated due to 'work from home' practice initiated by the occupants. Barthwal said this had led to the demarcation of SEZs into SEZ and DTA spaces. "Scale economies have become very important nowadays. Reforms in the SEZ are in the offing so that movement of goods from SEZ to DTA and vice-versa are not affected rendering goods produced become less competitive", Barthwal said at a symposium organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce. The official said that the foreign trade policy (FTP) of the government had been framed keeping in mind the global value chain. "Our FTP has been designed for exporters to take

Amendments to SEZ Act to spur commercial office space leasing: CRISIL

The recent notification of the commerce ministry to demarcate part of Special Economic Zones into non-SEZ areas will spur office space leasing in the country, according to a report prepared by research firm Crisil Ratings. India's office space leasing is expected to benefit from the recent amendments to the SEZ Act of 2005, notified by the commerce ministry on December 6, 2023, it said. As per the notification, the amendments permit the demarcation of a part of the SEZ areas into non-SEZ ones after repayment of tax benefits availed till date, the report said. Such a demarcation of non-SEZ areas is expected to create better occupancy through commercial office space leasing, resulting in higher incomes which will outweigh associated costs. Crisil said the SEZ Act was introduced to drive exports by providing tax exemptions for companies operating within such areas. After the sunset clause of the Act kicked off in April 2020, the legislation is no longer in effect but higher complianc

Warning Letter for Pithampur SEZ facility remains an overhang for Cipla

While some brokerages believe that the issue could escalate and be detrimental for Cipla, others believe that the Warning Letter was on expected lines and the impact may not be meaningful

Madras High Court sets aside govt's IGST refund denial order for Lenovo

The case is related to a partial denial of refunding IGST paid by Lenovo (India) on these sales between December 2019 and February 2020

SEZs should be allowed to sell goods on payment of duty foregone: GTRI

The government should consider allowing the sale of products manufactured in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the domestic market on payment of duty foregone on inputs as that would help promote value addition, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. At present, units in SEZs are allowed to sell their products in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA or domestic market) on payment of duties on an output basis (finished goods). The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the government already allows DTA sales on payment of duty foregone on input basis to firms operating under the 'Manufacturing and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations (MOOWR)' scheme. The government can "extend the same concession to the SEZs for parity sake. This will encourage value addition within the SEZ, as in most cases, the tariff on finished products is higher than on inputs," GTRI Co-Founder Ajay Srivastava said. He added that SEZ units could be incentivised to increase value addition to avail the benefit of DT

Govt could discard proposed DESH Bill, amend SEZ Act: Details here

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is eager to permit units in these zones to sell in areas outside SEZs, called domestic tariff areas (DTA) without the payment of customs duties

Commerce department likely to tweak some SEZ rules in DESH Bill

Move will allow use of unutilised spaces in IT/ITeS for non-SEZ purposes

Software exports from MP's four IT SEZs jump 66% to Rs 2,926 crore in FY23

Software exports from four information technology (IT) Special Economic Zone (SEZs) in Madhya Pradesh's Indore jumped 66 per cent to Rs 2,925.60 crore during FY23, a commerce and industry ministry official said on Wednesday. The largest share in the overall shipments from the SEZs has been of IT giant TCS with 51.6 per cent. The official said in the FY22, software worth Rs 1,761.19 crore was exported from these four IT SEZs. During the financial year ended March 2023, software exports worth Rs 1,509.80 crore were made from TCS SEZ, registering a growth of about 74 per cent. Exports from Infosys SEZ grew more than three times to Rs 444.80 crore during the period, while the outbound shipments from Impetus SEZ more than doubled to Rs 330.77 crore, the official said. According to the official, during FY23 software exports from Crystal IT Park SEZ reached Rs 640.23 crore, registering an increase of about seven per cent.

Moving ahead with Gati Shakti

Allowing the private sector even a limited access to the platform will make Gati Shakti universal in its appeal and effectiveness

Not REITs to riches for investors as the near-term headwinds blow

Budget proposals, delayed DESH Bill, hiring slowdown, and rising interest rates present a wall of short-term worry

Niti Aayog objects to certain provisions in proposed DESH bill: Report

Niti Aayog has raised objections to certain provisions pertaining to the proposed DESH bill, which seeks to replace the existing law for special economic zones, sources said. In the Union Budget 2022-23, the government had proposed to replace the existing law governing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with a new legislation to enable states to become partners in 'Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs' (DESH). Sources said that the Aayog has concerns on provisions of the proposed bill such as partial de-notification of zones; and removal of NFE (net foreign exchange earning) requirement. It would be difficult to give duty concessions with NFE requirements and in absence of land contiguity, it would be difficult for customs to keep track on activities in the zone, they said. The Aayog has suggested the ministry to reconsider those provisions, one of the sources said, adding the department of revenue too has objected to some provisions. The commerce ministry has proposed a host of

DESH & 'videsh'

The proposed Bill will create asymmetries

Top Headlines: Tax benefits to SEZs, Parliament's winter session and more

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Draft DESH Bill seeks to bail out SEZ units

There is nothing in the said Bill to suggest that it will contribute to enhancement of export competitiveness