New Delhi: About half of the 45,711 hectares notified for 373 special economic zones (SEZs) were lying vacant in August 2017, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
The vacant land is primarily with private or state public sector unit developers, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C. R. Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
He said land development and allotment of units by developers were based on demand and market conditions.
“Out of a total notified area of 45,711.64 hectares in 373 notified SEZs, 23,779.19 hectares are lying vacant in these SEZs,” Chaudhary said. At present, 223 SEZs are operational in the country.
Replying to a separate question, he said the Comptroller and Auditor General had in a report for 2014 observed that there were gaps in projections about employment, investment and exports from SEZs.
Those observations “were based on the performance of in the initial years after the enactment of SEZ Act, 2005,” he pointed out.
The minister said that SEZs were essentially industrial infrastructure with a long gestation period. “However, significant growth has been registered in terms of employment, investment and export from SEZs thereafter,” the minister added.
In 2017-18, exports from SEZs increased to Rs5.81 trillion from Rs5.23 trillion in the previous fiscal year.