Commerce ministry cancels 8 projects of Navi Mumbai SEZ

The commerce ministry has cancelled approval granted to eight special economic zone projects of Navi Mumbai SEZ.The decision to cancel the formal approval to these projects was taken during the meeting of the 'Board of Approval' on February 5.These SEZ projects are facing certain operational and regulatory issues in Maharashtra. The board, highest decision making body on SEZ related matters, has stated that ample time had been given to the developer and state government of Maharashtra for resolving their issues and despite that no concrete action seems to have been taken. "The board, after deliberations, decided to cancel the formal approval granted to the eight SEZs," according to the minutes of the meeting. Earlier the Maharashtra government had sought more time from the Board of Approval (BoA), headed by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, to resolve all the issues faced by Navi Mumbai SEZ Ltd (NMSEZ).The BoA had extended the validity of the formal approval beyond September 18, 2017. The developer has planned eight SEZs. Out of this, six zones got formal approval from the board in 2007, while the remaining two were approved in 2009.The eight zones are from IT/ITeS (4), multi-services (2), multi-product (1), gems and jewellery (1) sectors. An SEZ area is considered to be a foreign territory for trade operations and duties. They are developed as export hubs.Exports from SEZs grew nearly 12 per cent to Rs 5.24 lakh crore in 2016-17.