SEZs want customs duty waiver to tap domestic mkts

The payment of customs duty as per Section 30 of SEZ Act, 2005, is making the products manufactured by the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the country uncompetitive in the domestic market. However, owing to massive cancellation of global orders due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, SEZs want the government to allow them to sell their products in the domestic market without payment of customs duties.

The Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) urged the Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal that Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) sale on payment of duty should be made in line with EOU (export-oriented units) or equivalent to duty forgone on the raw material used in the manufacture of finished goods sold in DTA market.

“This will help SEZs to survive and utilize their spare/idle manufacturing capacity as well as to give employment with wages as well…This will help these units to survive in the domestic market,” the council stated.