Work from home for SEZ IT/ITES employees permitted under the same conditions; DTA IT units may do job work in SEZ.
Authorized off site employees of IT/ITES units in Special Economic Zones may work from home or outside the SEZ subject to the same conditions prescribed in the earlier departmental instruction; IT units in the Domestic Tariff Area may carry out job work in an SEZ by following the procedural requirements of the SEZ rules.

Operationalisation of SEZ Act provisions prompts withdrawal of a prior administrative instruction affecting Development Commissioners.
The Department of Commerce directs that Instruction No. 34 dated 31 August 2009 is withdrawn following the Notification of 13 January 2010 which operationalised Sections 20, 21 and 22 of the SEZ Act, 2005, and this is communicated in reference to Instruction No. 56 dated 7 May 2010 to all Development Commissioners.

SEZ instruction withdrawal: administrative order annuls prior instruction following operationalisation of SEZ Act provisions under statute.
Instruction No. 56 dated 7-5-2010 withdraws Instruction No. 45 dated 30-11-2009 with effect from 13-1-2010, pursuant to a Notification dated 13 January 2010 that operationalises Sections 20, 21 and 22 of the Special Economic Zone Act, 2005; the document operates as an administrative circular ordering withdrawal of the earlier instruction consequent on the statutory operationalisation.

Work-from-home for IT SEZ employees permitted as an exception when temporarily incapacitated or traveling, subject to project and export conditions
Permits employees of IT SEZ units to work from home or outside the SEZ only where they are temporarily incapacitated or traveling, provided the person is an employee of the SEZ unit, the off premises work relates to a project of that unit, and any resultant exports are effected solely from the unit's premises in the SEZ.

SEZ construction approval requirement: buildings and warehouses now require Unit Approval Committee clearance; no tax benefits for external construction.
Annexure I is amended so that construction of all types of buildings in the processing area and warehouses are valid only "as approved by the Unit Approval Committee"; existing guidelines continue to exclude tax benefits for construction outside SEZ premises, including water pipeline connections from the source to the SEZ, and designated officers are to ensure compliance.

Continuous customs operations: require holiday customs shifts and supervisory availability to maintain SEZ export import activity.
DCs must ensure uninterrupted SEZ export and import operations by arranging holiday customs functioning-providing at least one customs shift during core daytime hours and availability of an ADC or DDC to address unit and developer issues-and must notify units and developers of these arrangements. DCs must also ensure temporary removal facilities to the Domestic Tariff Area for repair and testing are available on holidays under Rule 50, and confirm implementation within the required timeline.

Broad-banding in IT/ITES: no BoA approval required to include electronic hardware within SEZ product profiles.
Developers in the IT/ITES sector of SEZs may include electronic hardware within their product profiles without prior Board of Approval permission because the IT/ITES sector inherently covers both hardware and software activities, and such addition is treated as an administrative broad-banding not requiring separate BoA approval.

Import declaration requirements mandate Form-F, detailed receipt/issue registers and separate storage for jewellery remelting, remaking, and repairs.
Units must declare nature and quantities of jewellery imports on import documents and submit or revise Form-F; officers will verify and may inspect consignments. Each unit must maintain a serially paginated receipt-and-issue register tied to import documents recording receipts, issuance for remelting/remaking/repair, removal dates, metal recovered, descriptions and quantities of remade or repaired items, and export particulars; the register is maintained by financial year with monthly balances and stocks held separately must reconcile with stock challans and officer stock-taking.

Default authorized operations in SEZs allow developers duty-free goods and services, subject to approval and guidelines.
Consolidated list authorises infrastructure, utilities and welfare operations that a Special Economic Zone developer or approved co-developer may undertake by default from the date of notification. Development Commissioners/Unit Approval Committees may permit duty-free goods and services for these default operations, subject to government guidelines and assessment of actual SEZ requirements. Activities not in the list require prior approval of the Board of Approval through the concerned Development Commissioner.

FTWZ operational permissions allow imports, consumables, DTA transactions, and case-by-case approval for processing activities.
FTWZ units and developers may procure and import goods and consumables for authorized operations subject to prohibited-item restrictions; procurement of rental for offices outside the SEZ/FTWZ is not permitted. Import permissions required by other laws need Approval Committee/Board of Approval consent. Diesel is permitted for authorized processing operations and material handling. Units in FTWZs within sector-specific SEZs may carry out trading and warehousing without product-based limits, and DTA-FTWZ and FTWZ-DTA transactions are allowed. Addition of processes like cutting or polishing will be considered case-by-case by the Approval Committee.

Washing of imported plastic scrap permitted; process does not affect eligibility but must meet pollution control standards.
Washing of imported plastic waste and scrap to remove impurities is a permissible manufacturing activity that does not affect the scrap's eligibility once tested; the washing process must comply with applicable pollution control standards.

Export controls: SEZ units may export normally prohibited items if produced from imported inputs, subject to BOA approval.
SEZ units may export items normally prohibited if produced from imported raw materials, and may import items prohibited for general import when those inputs are used to manufacture goods for export; all such cases require prior consideration and approval by the Board of Approval, and DTA suppliers can furnish restricted items to SEZs for infrastructure or manufacturing (subject to exclusions and BOA approval).

Preference for Small Scale Units: central SEZs to reserve space and establish incubators to support SSI IT/ITES units.
Central Government SEZs must give preference to small scale units in space allotment, with DCs ensuring priority allocation to SSI units. IT/ITES SEZs are to establish incubators and reserve part of SEZ space for SSI IT/ITES units, while other SEZs must allocate a portion of space to SSI units. Development Commissioners shall review implementation monthly in Unit Approval Committee meetings to monitor compliance.