Exports from SEZs to reach Rs 1.25 lakh crore

Exports from the special economic zones are expected to reach the target of Rs 1,25,000 crore (Rs 1,250 billion) in the current fiscal, with Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery alone likely to contribute Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) to the total shipments.

While leading SEZs like Mahindra World, Nokia, Apache, Hyderabad Gems and Jewellery became operational in 2008-09, exports from these zones fell short of target of Rs 1,20,000 crore (Rs 1,200 billion) in the last fiscal, according to the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs.

"Gems and jewellery, textiles, engineering and telecommunications SEZs, were the major contributers to the exports," council's director-general L B Singhal told PTI.

Singhal was confident about meeting the target for the current fiscal with the commissioning of the big ticket SEZ Jamnagar refinery by the Reliance Industries in December last.

"We are hopeful of achieving the target as the exports from the Reliance Industries Jamnagar SEZ are likely to be worth Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion)," he said.

The RIL has a production capacity of 5,80,000-barrels-per-day of fuel products.

As on March 2008, 568 SEZs have got formal approval, 144 'in-principle' approval, and 311 are notified. Of this, 90 are functional.

In terms of sectors, the IT and ITEs dominate the approvals and notifications. Of the total zones notified, 163 related to this sector. While the sector has remained in the forefront of the India's growth story, the main reason for IT and ITEs firms rushing towards the special economic zones was tax incentives.

The total investments in SEZs were Rs 81,093-crore (Rs 810.93 billion) till March 2009.