Lok Sabha passes Bill to amend SEZ law

New Delhi: The Parliament on Thursday passed the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to allow trusts to set up units in special economic zones (SEZs) by amending the SEZ law.

The Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this week, got the Rajya Sabha nod, with the government asserting that these zones were an engine of growth and employment.

The Bill will replace the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which was promulgated in March.

The ordinance had paved the way for trusts to set up units in these zones. Most Opposition parties questioned the tearing hurry to bring the ordinance on SEZs, saying it's an “insult” to Parliament.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal said “Until now, We  have eight proposals from such trusts. Total investment proposed by these trusts comes out to be Rs 8,000 crore” and added that the government expects about USD 3 billion, which is around Rs 20,000 crore investments annually.

Justifying issuance of ordinance, the minister said that economic development cannot stop if some members or party in Parliament create hurdles in passage of legislations. He said that the previous government had withdrawn exemptions in income tax, dividend distribution tax and MAT and because of it the SEZ framework faced some stress and even left several investors in lurch.

“At the end of March 2019, the investment in SEZs was a whopping Rs 5 lakh crore plus and the employment was over 20 lakh in SEZs and export from SEZs was over Rs 7 lakh crore,” he said. The minister said  no one can deny the role of such SEZs being “an engine of growth and engine of creating jobs”.