SEZ -boon or bane?

[deepakraam]

Today there was much talk on the Special Economic zones(SEZ).But some people of the country are vehemently protesting the Govt's plan of mooting the SEZ at the cost of agricultural land

Is the concept of SEZ a boon or a bane?

[ruvi_143]

In India, 25% of a SEZ is used for industrial and business purposes, and 75% for real estate and commercial complexes. SEZs will benefit only real estate and property developers since merely 25% of the land has to be used for industries or manufacturing.

Loss of revenue due to tax incentives and exemption of duties.
Exploitation of workers coz of lack of labour laws.

[ruvi_143]

ADV
'
HELPS IN REDUCING TRANSACTION COSTS
SIMPLIFIES PROCEDURES AND GIVES FISCAL CONCESSIONS- The fiscal concessions include full exemption from income tax for the SEZ units for five years and 50 per cent concession for the next five years and exemption from customs and excise duty from all imported inputs to SEZ developers as well as units located in them. They are not required to pay even the minimum alternate tax.

[ruvi_143]

"SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES OR SPECIAL EXPENSES ZONE"

[ruvi_143]

The zones are too small--as little as 100 hectares. For some special kinds of industries (software, bio-tech, gems and jewellery), that minimum size has been reduced to 10 hectares--which is little more than the size of an industrial plot. Providing quality infrastructure in such a small area can have no real meaning.

This could lead to tax scams. Whats is the commerce ministry up2?
Aint there enough tax loopholes in the country that it needs 1 more!!!
What the hell is the prime minister doing????
On top of this the commerce ministry has decided to increase the nos. of SEZs to 300 from 150...........What the f##k is wrong??!!!!!???

[samar]

Are the original landowners adequately compensated ?
both for loss of an asset [land]
& loss of income from the asset [farm produce].

Govt. will be forcibly acquiring land at low prices
for the benefit of the SEZ developers.

Why are SEZs not being developed in the
Interiors away from the Metros / Mini-metros.

[bonddonraj]

india moving towards 9-10% gdp...yet the agiculture has dropped to 2.4% -punjab no longer an agriculture prominanat state ..farmers commiting suicides.....all this alarming issues and on the other hand snatching land from farmers .....!!! india is really in trouble.........i feel somewhere it is ambani -tata etc big fishes game and nothing else.......

[bonddonraj]

A growth rate of 9.4 per cent in 2006-07 is great news, but the challenge lies in keeping it going. There is always a risk of its coming unstuck if agriculture continues to remain a laggard - it grew by just 2.7 per cent in the previous fiscal. Some economists argue that since agriculture contributes just 18.5 per cent of India's gross domestic product, its slow growth will not act as a drag on the entire economy. They are mistaken.

Rural India still accounts for 60 per cent of the country's population, and can vote governments out of power if it perceives that growth is not helping people at large. That could upset policy momentum and business sentiment. Besides, the participation of a large number of people in the market would stabilise industrial demand over time, creating the right climate for investment. While there has been no dearth of suggestions on how to lift agriculture by the bootstraps, there is one problem that deserves overriding priority - Rs 58,000 crore of fruit, vegetables, pulses and grains, or a third of total food produce, is wasted each year for want of storage and marketing facilities. Of the produce that survives, very little is processed, compared to the situation in Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil and Thailand. It is here that the entry of organised retail can make a huge difference.

It would lead to the creation of large, efficient cold storages, which, in turn, could transform the character of the food processing industry by enabling it to deal in large volumes. At present, food processing is dominated by the small-scale sector, which is not equipped to deal either in volumes or variety of produce. In the absence of storage systems, these units do not operate round the year; yet, it is remarkable that this sector employs about 1.5 million people.

It is often overlooked that the Indian agriculture sector is almost totally private. However, it belongs to the realm of the unorganised sector and as such lacks both capital and organisational skills to maximise returns. What is needed is to create a mutually beneficial synthesis between organised private capital as represented by, say, ITC or Wal-Mart and the amorphous agrarian sector.

The government should play its legitimate role as an honest broker to help both parties work out an advantageous deal for all concerned. This could be done by ensuring that there are no job losses, that food prices are both remunerative and stable, and the small agriculturist is saved from suicidal debt

[arvinmondal0407]

Only time can say. If there are loopholes in the functioning of SEZ's and not properly regulated...its a BANE....

[sandycursed]

SEZ can be a boon if they are strategically placed.government shud sanction only barren land for construction of sez. and it is better to make large sezs than small ones in every state to please the state government.though the government has a lot to lose in terms of revenue this is one source of employment.