The governments policy on special economic zones (SEZs) has come under fire many a time this decade. Its again back in the media spotlight, with the Supreme Courts refusal last week to grant Mukesh Ambanis Maha Mumbai SEZ more time to acquire land. Botched land acquisition is a central problem, but thats not the only one: Theres a good case to be made that the government isnt achieving what it set out to do.
When India started on the SEZ track earlier this decade, it meant to imitate China. There, SEZs—free-trade areas with a liberalized environment that help form business clusters focusing on particular activities—have provoked the envy of the world. But instead of getting manufacturing clusters, India seems to be getting real-estate developers masquerading as SEZs.
First, too many SEZs have been granted approval. With 568 proposals okayed since 2005, India has lost a lot of potential tax revenue, which the government claims is offset by higher employment. If thats the case, then its doing poorly: Since 2006, SEZs have seen investment worth Rs77,058 crore, but have employed only an extra 214,499 persons—thats Rs35 lakh for every person hired.
More : livemint.com
Send an E-Mail for India Property Enquiry!
Related News from India Properties
The great SEZ rush skids on slowdown, land issues
When the Board of Approval for special economic zones (SEZs) meets on Friday, liaison and corporate affairs executives will jostle for space in the narrow corridors on the ground floor of Udyog Bhavan, which houses the commerce department. In stark contrast to last year, however, few of them will be pushing proposals for new zones. Demand dynamics brought on by the global slowdown and persistent land acquisition problems are forcing developers to alter their plans. As a result, almost half the proposals that the inter-ministerial panel headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar will consider have to do with extensions to acquire land
Mangalore takes over as the new SEZ destination
While all the infotech majors flocked to Bangalore and turned it into Indias Silicon Valley, a city just 350 km away — Mangalore — failed to woo them. Realty prices, including commercial offices, skyrocketed in the Garden City but development in Mangalore was slow. Even Infosys entry couldnt attract its peers. However, the expected development of IT/ ITeS special economic zones SEZs) in and around the city is set to change the landscape. More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
Emaar MGF embarks on projects across India
Emaar MGF, a joint-venture between Dubai-based realtor Emaar Properties and Indias MGF Developments, has embarked on a major pan-India real estate building programme that will include nine special economic zones (SEZs) and 50 hospitals. According to information supplied by Emaar MGF, it will also add 25,000 hotel rooms throughout India in ten years, numerous schools and universities, residential townships and shopping malls. The plans are part of a huge investment package, which one Indian newspaper puts at $12 billion in the next five years alone. The figure is considered to be the largest single investment in the countrys real estate sector. More :
Indias real estate boom
Investor enthusiasm to gain exposure to the booming Indian real estate market has seen a leading property developer soar 75 per cent on its stock market debut. Parsvnath Developers jumped to Rs526 from its Rs300 offer price in an encouraging sign for a host of other Indian and India-related real estate initial public offerings due to list in the next one to two quarters. Theyre all trying to catch the momentum but theyll be lucky if the market continues to be the way it is right now, said Harendra Kumar, head of research at ICICI Direct, the online brokerage arm of Indias
Indian real estate firm Unitech plans London listing
Indias largest publicly traded real estate firm Unitech (BSE:507878) on yesterday announced its plans to raise over 360 million pounds (US$700 million) through the listing a newly floated company on the London Stock Exchange. The realty major has incorporated a new real estate investment company, Unitech Corporate Parks, in the Isle of Man and plans to list it on the London Stock Exchanges Alternative Investment Market with an institutional placement of its shares. The company plans to use the offer proceeds to acquire majority stakes in six commercial real estate development projects -- four IT Special Economic Zones (SEZs), one IT Park