Less than half of notified SEZ area utilised

New Delhi: Of the total notified area of 45,883 hectares covering 347 special economic zones (SEZ), only 18,913 hectares has been utilised for their development, Parliament was informed today.

"The reasons for delay in operationalisation of SEZs may, inter alia, be attributed to downward trend in the industries during the recent past, imposition of MAT and DDT by the government etc," Commerce and Industry Minister said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Out of the total notified area of 45,883.58 hectares in respect of 347 notified SEZs - including 7 central government SEZs and 11 state/private sector SEZs set up prior to the enactment of the SEZ Act, 2005 - 18,913.21 hectares of land has been utilised for the development of SEZs, she said.

In a separate reply on India-EU free trade agreement, the minister said two stocktaking meetings have been held recently and both the sides have re-engaged in discussion to address the key outstanding issues.

Top officials of India and the European Union (EU) have met on February 22 in Brussels to review the stalled negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement.

On January 18 also, chief negotiators of both the regions took stock of the outstanding issues, including duty cut on automobiles and movement of professionals.

The purpose of the meeting was to assess where both sides stand and how India and the EU should go forward with the proposed pact, officially dubbed as Bilateral Trade and Investment agreement.

In a separate reply, she said 133 license for manufacturing various items were issued during the last 2 years under defence and chemical sectors.

"The employment expected to be generated in these projects is 35,169 mandays," she said.