Springer Special Economic Zones in India: Status, Issues and Potential (India Studies in Business and Economics)

This book examines India’s ten years of experience developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the performance of SEZs in the context of India’s growing international engagement, its endeavours to attract domestic and foreign investment in manufacturing and services and its aim to increase and diversify exports of goods and services. SEZs are industrial enclaves/clusters within a country that receive certain incentives and business facilitation benefits that are not generally available to the rest of the country. To facilitate private and foreign investment in SEZs, India introduced the SEZ policy in 2000, which was followed by the SEZ Act in 2005. After ten years under the Act, India now has one of the largest number of approved SEZs in the world and its SEZ policy remains heatedly debated, with a number of studies arguing both for and against it. Given this background, the book also identifies the challenges faced by SEZs in India and offers policy recommendations on how to make the SEZs an engine for India’s economic growth and development that can more effectively link the country’s manufacturing and services sectors to global value chains. From the Back Cover This book examines India’s ten years of experience developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the performance of SEZs in the context of India’s growing international engagement, its endeavours to attract domestic and foreign investment in manufacturing and services and its aim to increase and diversify exports of goods and services. SEZs are industrial enclaves/clusters within a country that receive certain incentives and business facilitation benefits that are not generally available to the rest of the country. To facilitate private and foreign investment in SEZs, India introduced the SEZ policy in 2000, which was followed by the SEZ Act in 2005. After ten years under the Act, India now has one of the largest number of approved SEZs in the world and its SEZ policy remains heatedly debated, with a number of studies arguing both for and against it. Given this background, the book also identifies the challenges faced by SEZs in India and offers policy recommendations on how to make the SEZs an engine for India’s economic growth and development that can more effectively link the country’s manufacturing and services sectors to global value chains. About the Author Dr. Arpita Mukherjee is a Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). She has several years of experience in policy-oriented research, working closely with the government in India and policymakers in the EU, US, ASEAN and East Asian countries. She has conducted studies for various international organizations and Indian industrial associations. Her research is a key contributor to India’s negotiating strategies in the WTO and bilateral agreements. She has authored chapters in joint study group reports set up by the Indian government and has led research teams contributing to India’s domestic policy reforms in areas such as logistics, retail and special economic zones. Her research interests include trade and domestic reforms; the WTO; bilateral/regional agreements; retail; infrastructure; FDI; special economic zones; economic corridors and production networks; and migration. Dr Mukherjee has a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK. She has published widely and presented her research in various international and national forums. Dr. Parthapratim Pal is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta. He has a Masters, MPhil and Ph.D. in Economics from the Center for Economic Studies and Planning of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Before joining the IIM, he worked with the Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Economic Research Foundation (ERF) and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). He has engaged in numerous consultancy and research projects