Hyderabad, September 04: Export from special economic zones (SEZs) grew 68 per cent to about Rs 58,685.46 crores in the first quarter ended June 30, 2010 as compared to Rs 35,013 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Exports from SEZs in the 2008-09 were about Rs 99,000 crore which increased to Rs 2,20,000 crores in 2009-10, registering a growth of 120 per cent.
These numbers were revealed at an Open House Meet organised here yesterday by the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) and Visakhapatanam Special Economic Zone (VSEZ).
Exports from SEZs have gone up from Rs 22,000 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 2,20,000 crore in the year 2009-10, showing a growth of about 10 times in four years.
Addressing the meet, a top official of Union Commerce Ministry said the EOUs and SEZs play a vital role in the country’s export scenario and were complimentary to each other.
These schemes were also playing a very important role in employment generation, attracting investments and creation of infrastructure, the official said.
The exports from EOU-SEZ sector during 2009-10 was to the tune of Rs 2,91,794 crore with a contribution of 35 per cent to national exports. After enactment of SEZ Act four year ago, the investments increased from Rs 2,793 crore to Rs 1,66,000 crore, exports was up from 22,840 crore to Rs 2,20,711 crores and employment from 1,34,704 to over 5,50,000 people.
The EPCES has so far organised 32 Open House Meets of EOUs and
SEZs in different parts of the country for resolving the issues of EOUs and SEZs.
”As a result of these Open House Meets, a number of issues of
EOUs and SEZs have been resolved. The Open House at Hyderabad has provided an opportunity to EOUs and SEZs from Andhra Pradesh to discuss their issues with senior officers of Central Government and State government of Andhra Pradesh,” the EPCES officials said.–UNI