At present, SEZs are also not able to sell their products in the domestic market, as payment of customs duty as per Section 30 of SEZ Act, 2005, is making their products uncompetitive, the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) said in a letter to commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal.
Asking for a waiver of customs duties, the council said that SEZ units should be allowed to make Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) sale on payment of duty 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,” it said in the letter as besides cancelled export orders, there will also be minimal export orders in the near future.
As per the council, EPCES sector provides direct employment to more than 25 lakhs people with investment of more than 5.5 lakhs crore and contributes Rs 7.87 lakhs crore to India’s export basket.
