SEEPZ Is A Brand Which Commands Respect

India's exports have contracted month after month for over a year and a half now.

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This has been a big cause of worry for policy-makers. Fortunately, the grim situation is offset by good news from special economic zones (SEZs), the territories designed exclusively to boost the country's exports.

Over a decade since the SEZ Act was passed in 2005, the country's 204 operational SEZs of the 329 notified special zones have been the growth engine of exports. It is the same bullish story at 27 operational SEZs of Maharashtra, which ranks next only to Tamil Nadu in number of functional SEZs. They have registered a nearly three-fold jump in exports worth Rs 71,619 crore in 2015-16.

Maharashtra's noteworthy performance has naturally impressed N P S Monga, the development commissioner of SEEPZ SEZ, who is also in charge of all SEZs in Maharashtra, Goa, Diu and Daman and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Mr Monga is doubly happy that exports from SEEPZ's 312 units have risen by about 10 per cent to Rs 17,941 crore in FY16.

SEEPZ, which began operation in 1973-74 and was designated as an SEZ in 2000, has attracted over Rs 3,100 crore of investment and provides employment to more than 96,000 people. Over the past four years, the atmosphere at SEEPZ, which is in the heart of Mumbai, has changed dramatically from bureaucratic to business-friendly, corporate set-up. Interestingly, this positive transformation has coincided with Mr Monga taking charge of SEEPZ in mid-2012. The former additional director general of foreign trade has been instrumental in revamping SEEPZ into an investor-friendly haven. Mr Monga, who is among the first batch of the Indian Trade Service of 1986, shares his views on SEZs and SEEPZ in an exclusive interview with Amit Brahmabhatt. Excerpts