Frequently Asked Questions

There is no export obligation. However, the SEZ unit has to achieve positive NFE during its 5 year period of operation.

There is no such provision for re-imbursement of excise duty paid by a SEZ unit.

No. There is no time limit prescribed.

No. All transactions by a unit in Free Trade and warehousing zone shall only be in convertible foreign currency. [Rule 18(5)/ Rule 45(2)]

Yes. The Approval Committee may approve the above proposals [Rule 19(2)]

There is no minimum investment criterion for setting up a unit at SEZ.

Consolidated list of default authorized operations which can be undertaken by the developer/approved co-developer by default from the date of notification is contained in the Department of Commerce Instructions No:50

The DC's/UAC's may allow Developer/approved Co-developers duty free goods and services for these default authorized
operations from the date of notification of the SEZ. These authorized operations will, however, continue to be subject to the various guidelines issued by Government from time to time. Approval Committees while approving goods and services for such default operation may look into the actual requirement of the SEZs for such operations.
(Instructions No:50 Department of Commerce)

The requests for increase/decrease of SEZ area should be routed through the concerned Development Commissioner in the formats prescribed by the Department of Commerce vide Instruction No:24.

The following guidelines issued by the Department of Commerce will apply in cases where:

i) The request for extension had been filed before the expiry of the LoA and
ii) Where steps for implementation of the proposal like acquisition/purchase of land etc. have been taken;

The Letter of Approval (LoA) may be extended for 1 more year beyond the original validity. While extending the in-principle LoAs, any approvals given for area of more than 5000 hectares may be capped at 5000 hectares to align all such approvals as per the Government decision in this regard.

(Instruction no 22 of Department of Commerce).

No approval of BoA is required for broad-banding as IT/ITES includes both Hardware and Software. (Instruction no 52 of Department of Commerce).