Introduction
The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 20191 (the Bill) was introduced on June 24, 2019 by the Minister of Commerce and Industry - Mr. Piyush Goyal. The Bill seeks to amend the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 which provides for the establishment, development and management of the Special Economic Zones for the promotion of exports from the country.2
Amendment:
The Bill proposes the amendment of sub-section (v) of section 2 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 which lays down the definition of person. Under the Act, the definition of a person already included an individual, a Hindu undivided family, a company, a co-operative society, a firm, or an association of persons.
The proposed amendment seeks to add, a "trust" or "any entity notified by the Central Government" to the definition of person of "person" thereby enabling the trusts as well as entities notified by the Central Government to be eligible to be considered for the grant of permission to set up units in Special Economic Zones.
The Bill has now been approved by the parliament and now awaits the President's approval for it to become a law.
Impact:
This amendment allows the trusts to be able to expand their business units to SEZs and shall be able to export their products. This is expected to contribute significantly in increasing India's overall exports as well as help the business of these trusts to grow. Further, this implies that investment into SEZs as well as employment in such areas is also expected to rise.
SEOs underlined.
Description: The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by the Parliament seeks to amend the SEZ Act, 2005 thereby enabling trusts to be eligible to be considered for the grant of permission to set up units in Special Economic Zones.
Footnotes
1 Available at: http://www.prsindia.org/sites/default/files/bill_files/Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill%2C%202019.pdf
2 Available at: https://commerce.gov.in/writereaddata/aboutus/actspdfs/SEZ Act, 2005.pdf
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