Centre to support SEZs without any dilution: Anand Sharma

New Delhi, Mar 3 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday claimed the Government would continue to support and grant incentives for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) without any dilution.

Sharma's statement came in the backdrop of concerns raised by the SEZ unit holders and developers regarding continuation of tax benefits like income tax holiday after the Direct Tax Code comes into effect.

Interacting with media on the sidelines of the Parliament's Budget Session, Sharma said:"The Finance Minister in his budget speech has said the government is committed to ensuring continued growth of SEZs to draw investments and boost exports and employment."

Commenting on continuation of sops to Export Oriented Units (EOUs) Sharma said: "if there are any issues, we will assess and if there are legitimate concerns which may have serious impact, we can always take it up with the Finance Minister". e also informed that some other policy issues concerning the labour intensive units would be addressed soon.

As regards exports, which have turned positive after 13 months since November 2009, Sharma said export shipments are expected to further contribute to the momentum in the fiscal's last quarter.

The budget allocation for micro, small and medium enterprises has also been raised from Rs.1794 crore to Rs.2400 crore for 2010-11.

This sector contributes 40 per cent of the country's exports and additional allocation would further boost export growth.

The government has now proposed to extend the interest subvention of two per cent for one more year for exports covering handicrafts, carpets, handlooms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Earlier, the government had provided interest subvention of two percent on pre-shipment export credit up to March 31, 2010 for certain sectors. (ANI)