Meeting to consider SEZ issues postponed

Meeting of the board of approval in the commerce ministry, which was to consider several proposals seeking withdrawal of clearances of special economic zone projects, has been postponed.

While no reason has been given for postponement of the BoA meeting, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is indisposed, an official said.

The agenda before the scheduled BoA meeting included proposals from 10 promoters of special economic zones who wanted to pull out of their projects in the wake of slump in the demand for commercial space.

It was also to take up the application of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Mumbai SEZ for seeking third extension for validity of its in-principle approval granted in 2006.

A total of 579 SEZs have been approved and 335 of them notified.

The SEZs have attracted an investment of over Rs 1.10 lakh crore (Rs 1.1 trillion) and exports from the units were valued at around Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 1,000 billion) in 2008-09.