The Lok Sabha passed the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 26 June. The amendment of sub-section (v) of Section 2 of the SEZ Act, 2005 will create a trust or any entity notified by the Central government eligible for consideration of grant of permission to set up a unit in special economic zones. The Bill aims at improving and encouraging more investments and introducing features including single-window clearance and to ease imports and exports.
The Bill will substitute the ordinance promulgated in February 2019. The ordinance seeks to amend the definition of a person under the SEZ Act 2005, which will make possible a trust to be considered for grant of permission to set up a unit.Exports from SEZs rose 21% on year to Rs 7 lakh crore in Financial Year 2019. As of March 31, there were 232 SEZs, of which 25 are multi product and the rest are sector specific, with 5,109 approved units.
