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R Gopalan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, said, “With only 8 per cent of the notified SEZs and 10 per cent functional SEZs in the state, Gujarat’s share among the total exports from SEZs in the country is 30 per cent.”
In all, 49 SEZs have received formal approvals, 11 have received in-principle approvals, 26 have been notified and eight are operational in the state. Gopalan further said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended the new land acquisition and rehabilitation policy for SEZs, which will be sent to the Cabinet for approval.
Refuting the charges of agricultural land being acquired for SEZs, he said, “Only 0.061 per cent of the total land in the
country or about 12,000 Ha is being covered by the 544 SEZs formally approved up till now."
Vala for uniform SEZ Act
Gujarat’s Finance Minister Vaju Vala, who was present at the conclave, called for one SEZ Act for the entire country and a uniform incentive for all. He said that Gujarat will provide a 'single window' facility to all investors. The government is contemplating a proposal to drastically bring down the number of inspectors, if not abolish them, Vala said. Most of the factories have been modernised and therefore, the need for providing inspectors is only adding to the corruption, he added.
‘Suggestions' for SEZ development in Gujarat
* Gujarat must seek a Rs 15,000-crore special package from the Centre for the creation of necessary infrastructure in its coastal areas to attract investments in its SEZs
* Govt must empower the development commissioners to grant Form I to SEZ developers, which exempts from Central Sales Tax
* Gujarat must eliminate the 0.1% cess that it imposes on imports meant for SEZs
* Equal emphasis on developing both manufacturing and IT/ITES-based SEZs
* Land demarcation must be cautious; farmers must be made major stakeholders in SEZs
* Special arbitration mechanisms and dispute settlement courts must be set up
* Reduce state levies on sectors of strength in Gujarat – textiles, gems and jewellery, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and engineering
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Sir,I also agree with the expert.Considering the proactive industrial policy of Govt.of Gujarat and also total support from various departments and collectorate,ahmedabad,and enterprising capacities people of gujarat has helped it idustry to grow like anything in the time to come.The Govt inititive in the dierection of making available technical persons by adding technical and related educational instituin in the state will also surely help the state to be among top in it industry in the future to come.Last bu not the list the development of infrastructure will be also helping to the new entrants.