South Korean steel major Posco has sought more time from the Centre for its over Rs 53,000 crore multi-product SEZ in Orissa, as it is yet to get adequate land from the State Government.
An inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), chaired by the Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, will consider the request from Posco's subsidiary Posco India Pvt Ltd on November 28, 2011, according to the papers circulated among different stakeholders.
The company had received in-principle approval from the BoA for setting up the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Jagatsinghpur. The in-principle clearance was valid till last month.
"The developer has requested for extending the validity further stating that Government of Orissa has leased 245.778 hectares. The Environment Ministry on May 2, has accorded approval to the Orissa Government for diversion of 1,253 Ha of forest land. The forest land is likely to be leased by December 2011," the papers said.
The SEZ has to come up on 1,620.49 hectares in Orissa.
In-principle approval was granted to the project in October 2009 which was subsequently extended till October 2011.
Besides Posco, 16 SEZ developers including those of Gitanjali Gems Ltd and Parsvnath SEZ Ltd, have asked for extension of time to execute their projects.
Four developers, including Dr Reddy's Laboratories BA Tech Park Pvt Ltd and City Gold Realties Pvt Ltd have approached the government for surrendering their SEZ projects.
While some have asked for de-notification their SEZs due to change in their business plans, others have cited reasons such as imposition of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT).
" ...Due to MAT, companies are reluctant to shift their operations into an SEZ," an official said.
However, six promoters including Mundra Port and Kakinada SEZ Pvt Ltd have approached BoA to set up new zones.
Exports from SEZs grew 26.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.76 lakh crore during April-September this fiscal.
Out of 381 notified zones, 148 are operational. Maximum number of them are in sectors such as IT/ITES, engineering, electronics, hardware and textile.
SEZs and export oriented units (EoUs) contributed 34 per cent in the country's export shipments in 2010-11.
However, in the wake uncertainties over tax incentives, scores of SEZ developers were given more time to execute their project and some of them have surrendered.
The draft Direct Taxes Code, which is to replace the Income Tax Act, has proposed withdrawal of exemptions for new units.
In this backdrop,the Commerce Ministry has floated a discussion paper to revamp the policy.