SEZ (Amendment) bill first to get LS nod

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to allow trusts to set up units in special economic zones.

The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019, became the first bill to be passed by the newly-constituted 17th Lok Sabha.

The bill will replace the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which was promulgated in March.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that it would be a good step to include trusts and any other entity or business forms which would come in the future in the definition of “persons” under the SEZ Act 2005.

He added that the law came in 2005 and things have changed since then and now trusts have come forward for investments.

Goyal also said that to make India an international financial centre, the government had set up GIFT city in Gujarat and has planned to take up similar initiatives in other parts of the country as well.

“This is a fast evolving world and we have to move forward with this,” he added.

The opposition slammed the Modi government for adopting the Ordinance route for lawmaking.

“This is not a good practice and good governance... What was the exigency or emergency to bring this Ordinance? I cannot find any reason to promulgate such an Ordinance at a time of the election,” RSP member N K Premachandran said.

Goyal said the government had to issue an Ordinance as the bill could not be passed in the Parliament before elections.