New Delhi — The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its report for the year 2012-13 on performance of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has observed that 47 files were not produced for audit.
On scrutiny it has been found that all the files except five are available in the department and were made available to the state audit agency. The remaining five files relating to setting up of central government SEZs, which are of 30-50 years old, could not be located. As per the record, retention period of these files for the Department of Commerce has expired.
As per the 18th entry of the State List in the 7th schedule of the Constitution, land is a State subject. Land for SEZs is provided by the State governments concerned. The Board of Approval (BoA) on SEZs only considers those proposals which have been duly recommended by the States.
Since land is a State subject, their governments are free to frame any law/rule on the subject. If any violation of the SEZ provisions are noticed action is taken under the SEZ laws.
This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.
You must log in to post a comment.