The group of eminent personalities constituted by the Government of India to study the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Policy of India held its first meeting on 22^nd June under the aegis of Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu.

The Minister requested the members of the group to review the entire ecosystem of SEZs to suggest policy changes to make SEZ policy simple and transparent, with a view to remove regulations in industry without compromising on environmental concerns.

Baba Kalyani, Chairman Bharat Forge, who is Chairman of this group, pointed out that biggest challenge today was creation of jobs and the focus of the group would be to address this issue. The group will make suggestion for shift from fiscal incentives to employment based incentives, reframe the boundaries and introduce grandfathering clause for existing provisions, he added.

The group has decided to meet in the middle of July, 2018, again and will submit its report by the end of August 2018.

SEZ policy reform to prioritize employment-based incentives and simplify the regulatory framework while retaining environmental safeguards. A government-appointed group will review the Special Economic Zone ecosystem to simplify and increase transparency while retaining environmental safeguards, assess regulatory burdens, propose a shift from fiscal incentives to employment-based incentives, reframe SEZ boundaries and zoning, and introduce a grandfathering clause for existing provisions; the group will reconvene in mid-July and submit its report by the end of August.