The government has given more time to 20 special economic zone (SEZ) developers, including Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra World City, to execute their projects.
At a meeting on January 14, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed four SEZ developers to surrender their projects.
BoA, a 19-member inter-ministerial body, deals with SEZs and related issues.
However, the developers surrendering their projects have to obtain a certificate from the respective development commissioners that “they have refunded all the tax/duty benefits availed under SEZ Act/Rules,” a senior commerce ministry official said.
SEZ developers, including Medicaps IT Park Pvt Ltd and State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand, had approached BoA to surrender their projects.
They have cited global economic uncertainty as the reason for quitting their export-focused projects.
“It will not be financially feasible to develop the SEZ due to the ongoing uncertainties in the global economy,” said a developer in its application which had requested the withdrawal of approval for its IT/ITeS SEZ in Maharashtra.