250 SEZ proposals pending with state govts: Assocham

Thanks to the absence of a suitable relief and rehabilitation package and disputes on compensation and acquisition of agricultural land, a whopping 250 proposals for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) ,are yet to get approval in 21 states.

A study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has revealed that that the proposals should have been cleared by mid-2006 but have lingered on as there is dithering by the state governments.

In a recent presentation to the empowered group of ministers(eGoM) on SEZs, the commerce ministry had said that 237 SEZs had been formally approved by the Board of Approvals, out of which 51 have been notified. There are 22 functional SEZs in the country, which generated exports worth Rs 22,500 crore in the 2005-06 fiscal.

According to the chamber, approvals to the proposed SEZs have been pending even in industrialised states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal.

While Maharashtra, which has the highest number of approved SEZs (48), is yet to give nod to 41 proposals, as many as 36 proposals are yet to be approved by Karnataka due to problems in acquisition of agricultural land and deciding the right quantum for compensation.

The chamber has suggested that IT SEZs could be developed and made operational within a period of six months from the date of notification. This way, over 130 approved IT SEZs would be able to draw an investment of $9 billion to $12 billion.

According to Assocham President Anil K Agarwal, the total area of 5 major SEZs in China is less than 1 per cent of the country, but the GDP of these zones accounts for more than 7 per cent of China's GDP, a fifth of the country's trade and one fifth of FDI.

"The rate of growth of these zones has been double the national average and India needs to emulate China on SEZ patterns", he added.

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STOCK-TAKING

PENDING PROPOSALS
Maharashtra worst offender with 41 pending proposals

APPROVED PROPOSALS
Maharashtra, Andhra pradesh lead with 48 and 41 approvals respectively

NOTIFIED SEZs 51
FUNCTIONAL SEZs 22
MULTI PRODUCT SEZs 10