Some of the unit holders at Ahmedabad’s Apparel Park GIDC SEZ situated at Khokhara have demanded the park be denotified. The businessmen submitted their demand to Union textiles minister Piyush Goyal during his visit to the state.
The park has 50 units, but only 18 are functional. The businessmen argued that the SEZ policy is unfavourable, as the thrust is on exports only. They argued that if allowed to cater to the domestic market, not only will they have better chances of survival, but also more businessmen would be willing to invest in the park.
“The industry had a very positive outlook to setting up units due to various benefits under the SEZ Act since its inception as a Special Economic Zone in 2008. However, due to rigid conditions for exports and constant changes to the SEZ rules, the Act turned out to be unprogressive and led to major setbacks for the trade. Considering various business constraints, Ahmedabad Apparel Park Association has finally decided to opt for denotification of the park from the SEZ policy,” Ahmedabad Apparel Park secretary Bhavin Parikh said.
The GIDC had proposed to develop the SEZ on 38 hectares, however, 20 hectares of land was surrendered for use of the metro project. When set up, Apparel Park had projected the creation of 10,000 jobs. Out of 50 units at the SEZ, 28 are allotted, but only 18 are operational. A total of 14 of the operational units have demanded the denotification.
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