None of the five approved Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the North-eastern region, approved between 2007 and 2021, have become operational yet, a Parliamentary panel flagged in a report tabled on Thursday.
The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Commerce has urged the government to come up with a new industrial development scheme for the North-East region, noting that the previous scheme, unveiled in 2017 had expired in March 2022.
Stressing that the North-Eastern States have not benefitted from SEZs like the rest of the country, where 270 operational zones have generated exports of ₹79.62 lakh crore since 2005, the panel has called for expediting work on getting the approved zones off the ground.
Among the five SEZs approved in the North East, there are two IT SEZs that were to come up at Imphal, Manipur (approved in 2013) and Sikkim (approved in June 2021). Two SEZs, approved in Nagaland, between 2007 and 2009, are also yet to kick off operations, similar to the agro-products zone approved in Tripura in 2019.
“It is but obvious that notified SEZs, where the legal status is indisputable, must be factually operational on the ground with a sense of immediacy and urgency and after providing all support, ancillary and related facilities. The Committee therefore recommends expediting the establishment of the SEZs in the region and prospects of notifying more such SEZs should be explored in consultation with the relevant stakeholders,” the panel’s report said.
