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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 26
The 17th Lok Sabha today passed its first Bill, which will enable trusts to set up units in special economic zones (SEZs).
The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019, moved by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal replaced a related ordinance and was passed by a voice vote after several opposition leaders questioned the ordinance route. Goyal piloted the Bill retracing the steps of SEZs in the country and spoke of how India had seven SEZs by 2000 when the BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee became PM.
The SEZ (Amendment) Bill, 2019, amends the SEZ Act of 2005 to let trusts create units in SEZs.
The Bill was passed after a comprehensive debate on the utility of SEZs with Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry saying SEZs had not served their purpose and had effectively failed. The minister disagreed and shared data to show how SEZs were creating jobs — from 12 lakh in 2014 to 20 lakh in 2019.
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