Development of Special Economic Zones

The letter of approval granted to a SEZ developer is valid for a period of three years and within this time frame effective steps are to be taken by the developer to implement the approved proposal. However, the Board of Approval (BoA) under Department of Commerce may, on an application by the developer and on recommendation of Jurisdictional Development Commissioner, extend the validity period of the letter of approval.  BoA has granted extension of validity period to 153 developers of SEZ across the country including 7 developers in Andhra Pradesh to complete their projects till now. Developers have sought extension of validity period of the letter of approval granted to them for the execution of their projects for various reasons including adverse business climate due to global recession, delay in approvals from statutory bodies and delay in environmental clearance.

The tax exemptions and other incentives allowed to SEZs are in built into the SEZs Act, 2005. Main fiscal concessions and duty benefits allowed to SEZ developers and units are as follows:

1. Exemption from Central Sales Tax, Exemption from Service Tax and Exemption from State sales tax. These have now subsumed into GST and supplies to SEZs are zero rated under IGST Act, 2017. 
2. Exemption from Income Tax for 15 years as per Income Tax Act.
3. Duty free import/domestic procurement of goods 
4. Exemption from State sales tax and other levies as extended by the respective State Governments.

The details of the SEZs which got extension in the State of Andhra Pradesh are as under: 

 This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.