The Historical Perspectives of the Special Economic Zones in India

The Special Economic Zones or the Export Promoting Zones (SEZs or EPZs) have come in to existence in India from the year 1965, today there are about 579 SEZs concentrated only in major states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. The present paper based on the secondary data reveals that the number of SEZs has been increasing year by year and the total export earnings have been growing at the rate of 19.03 per cent and it is 43.81 per cent from the SEZs. The export earnings from the SEZs constitute 4.16 per cent during 2000–01 that has considerably increased to 26.10 per cent in 2009–10. This clearly reveals the importance of the SEZs in the country. However, the paper highlights that there is an apprehension of repatriation of the dividend. Therefore, it is suggested that the policy needs to be so stringent that the dividend generated by the MNCs through SEZs has to be reinvested in the host country itself as it helps for the overall economic development.