SEZs

Special economic zones (SEZs) in India are expected to draw in Rs 1,00,000 crore worth of investment by the end of financial year 2008-09, according to a senior official in the commerce and industry ministry.At present, India has 467 formally approved and 230 notified special economic zones that are under various stages of development. “These are clearly the next engine of India's economic growth. Special economic zonesare here to contribute to the wealth of the nation,” the official said.
With 71 million people expected to enter the workforce by 2010, special economic zones would turn out to be the only option.The IT-ITeS sector can at best provide jobs to eight million, what about the rest? SEZs would create the required infrastructure for manufacture and service, which the government will not be able to create.
As on March 31, 2008, over 3.5 lakh direct and indirect jobs were generated in the special economic zones, which have been facing widespread protest and criticism, largely over the issue of acquisition of land belonging to farmers by private companies.An special economic zone is a demarcated area to be treated as a foreign territory for trading purposes. It is given various tax incentives to attract investments. Thus, goods entering an special economic zones outside its borders or domestic tariff area (DTA) are to be treated as exports and those coming into the DTA as imports.