The Commerce Ministry has called a meeting of stakeholders on June 30 to discuss issues related to special economic zones (SEZs), an official said.

The meeting will focus on issues related to the harmonisation of export promotion schemes and SEZ reforms, the official said.

The issues which are expected to figure in the deliberations include INR payment for SEZs to domestic tariff area (DTA) services; job work by units of these zones for DTA without linkage to exports, import substitution, reforms in the free trade warehousing zones, and further promoting ease of doing business in these enclaves.

These zones are treated as foreign territories for laws pertaining to customs (trade and import duties), with restrictions on duty-free domestic sales.

Roadmap for reforms

The government has set up a 17-member committee to suggest larger reforms in the policy for these zones.

It is undertaking a background study focused on the harmonisation of various prevalent export promotion schemes, including SEZs, export-oriented units (EoUs), MOOWR (Manufacturing and Other Operations in Warehouse), Advance Authorisation (AA), EPCG (export promotion for capital goods), and Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA).

The committee will submit a concept paper recommending a roadmap for broad-based and comprehensive reforms to formulate a SEZ 2.0 policy.

The move is also important as when the SEZ law was formulated in 2005, Indian trade policy was different, and now the situation has changed due to global developments.

The total exports from these zones have dipped to $133.45 billion in 2025-26 from $172.07 billion in 2024-25. There are 276 operational SEZs, with 6,695 units, in the country.