AP to de-notify IT SEZs
Updated: May 22, 2013 05:00:50pm
Hyderabad, May 22 (KNN) The Government of Andhra Pradesh has no option but to de-notify its information technology special economic zones (SEZs) in tier II cities, having had no takers, although in the past it had attracted IT giants like Microsoft, Google and Facebook.
In a move, the first of its kind, the government intends to de-notify the SEZs and convert them into industrial parks, according to a media report.
Among the SEZs that are likely to be de-notified are those in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kadapa and Karimnagar.
It is certainly in keeping with the initiatives announced recently by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma as part of the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
On demands of an exit policy for the SEZs, Sharma said it has been decided to allow transfer of ownership and sale of SEZs units.
Also, on the SEZ scheme, Sharma had announced, that the minimum land area requirement for setting up such zones had been reduced to half and there would be no ceiling for IT and ITeS SEZs.
Having taken note of the acute difficulties in aggregating large tracks of uncultivable land which is vacant and contiguous, the Ministry had decided to reduce the minimum land area requirement by half for different categories of SEZs.
"...there would be no minimum land requirement for setting up IT/ITeS SEZs and only minimum built up area criteria would be needed to be met by SEZ developer," Sharma had said.
However, this measure too has failed to attract interest.
Currently, AP houses 115 of the 589 SEZs in India and among the 74 notified SEZs in the state, almost 56 are IT/ITeS. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has been responsible for the development of almost half of them.
APIIC has attributed the status quo of the IT SEZs to the global economic slowdown, although other industry bodies blame the absence of infrastructure and social infrastructure like schools and hospitals.
It now has plans to convert the IT SEZs into general industrial parks, to facilitate the setting up of marine products and food processing units, having received interests from industrial players in those areas.
In this state, the fourth largest exporter of IT services in the country, currently only 32 SEZs are in operation, mostly in the IT sector, located in and around Hyderabad.
As per media reports, the state had reported Rs 53,246 crore of revenue from the sector, providing employment to over 3.2 lakh professionals.
Further, SEZs in the state according to government sources have attracted investments of about Rs 17,600 crore and created 1.24 lakh jobs and last year reported Rs 15,100 crore of revenue. (KNN)
In a move, the first of its kind, the government intends to de-notify the SEZs and convert them into industrial parks, according to a media report.
Among the SEZs that are likely to be de-notified are those in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kadapa and Karimnagar.
It is certainly in keeping with the initiatives announced recently by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma as part of the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
On demands of an exit policy for the SEZs, Sharma said it has been decided to allow transfer of ownership and sale of SEZs units.
Also, on the SEZ scheme, Sharma had announced, that the minimum land area requirement for setting up such zones had been reduced to half and there would be no ceiling for IT and ITeS SEZs.
Having taken note of the acute difficulties in aggregating large tracks of uncultivable land which is vacant and contiguous, the Ministry had decided to reduce the minimum land area requirement by half for different categories of SEZs.
"...there would be no minimum land requirement for setting up IT/ITeS SEZs and only minimum built up area criteria would be needed to be met by SEZ developer," Sharma had said.
However, this measure too has failed to attract interest.
Currently, AP houses 115 of the 589 SEZs in India and among the 74 notified SEZs in the state, almost 56 are IT/ITeS. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has been responsible for the development of almost half of them.
APIIC has attributed the status quo of the IT SEZs to the global economic slowdown, although other industry bodies blame the absence of infrastructure and social infrastructure like schools and hospitals.
It now has plans to convert the IT SEZs into general industrial parks, to facilitate the setting up of marine products and food processing units, having received interests from industrial players in those areas.
In this state, the fourth largest exporter of IT services in the country, currently only 32 SEZs are in operation, mostly in the IT sector, located in and around Hyderabad.
As per media reports, the state had reported Rs 53,246 crore of revenue from the sector, providing employment to over 3.2 lakh professionals.
Further, SEZs in the state according to government sources have attracted investments of about Rs 17,600 crore and created 1.24 lakh jobs and last year reported Rs 15,100 crore of revenue. (KNN)
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