Ahead of the Union Budget- Interim for the 2024-25, Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry expressed his view and expectation under the heading of Expectations from the upcoming Budget!
He said, “To be vocal for local, and to facilitate; Make in India and promote, Ease of doing business, the FinMin must look into amending the present SEZ Act so that SEZs could be better integrated in the domestic market.
The budget should look at permitting, reverse job-work, which allows SEZs to sell in the domestic market where all duties relinquished on raw materials could be paid back. The move will prevent companies present in these zones from being disadvantaged due to a lack of access to the entire market. It will allow them to sell domestically, also offering a waiver on all duties on raw materials.
The move will also lead to further strengthening the SEZs of India, which have emerged as major export hubs in the country. However, in recent times it has started losing its value due to the imposition of minimum alternate tax and the introduction of a sunset clause to end fiscal incentives.
This has resulted in many SEZs lying vacant, hurting the economic growth. The policy will put SEZs on an equal footing with non-SEZ units that enjoy the benefits of zero or reduced import duties through free trade agreements.