Maharashtra Govt to review SEZ policy

SEZ in Maharashtra might have a long wait ahead, as the state government has embarked upon a long review of the policy under which these were developed. The review would also analyse what factors led to the withdrawal or cancellation of some SEZs and what is the way out for the sustainable development and revival of some of them. State Industries Minister Subhash Desai informed, ¨As on date, 24 SEZs with a total investment of Rs 18,786 crore are operational. As the state has adopted the SEZ policy with effect from February 2006, in all 236 SEZ, proposals were received till December 2014. Of these, 124 SEZs were approved by the Central Government (formal approval 104 and in-principle approval of 20) and 66 of them are notified. However, some of the SEZs could not take off due to the change in the policy by the Centre. Besides, there were tax-related issues.¨