Relaxation for SEZ units to sell goods will promote job creation: Official
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New Delhi: The Budget's proposed conditional relaxation to allow special economic zone (SEZ) units to sell goods in the domestic market will help promote import substitution and create new jobs, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.
He said the details of the announcements will be rolled out in the next 2-3 months.
The government on Sunday announced a one-time measure to allow SEZ units to sell their goods in the domestic market at concessional import duty rates, subject to certain quantitative restrictions.
It was a long-pending demand of these zones as they were not able to sell their excess production due to global uncertainties and high import duties in India on labour-intensive sectors.
The secretary said the proposal will help buy goods from SEZs rather than importing from third countries. "It will help in import substitution and better job creation. It will also provide a level playing field to DTA (domestic tariff area) firms (vis-a-vis SEZs)," Agrawal said.
About 7-8 sectors, including leather, textiles, and engineering goods, will get a major boost from this proposal. These sectors have a high import duty in India.
