Easier Land acquisition for SEZ's in Kerala

Tejomaya IT Park(Kerala)

The government may consider lifting The ban on compulsory acquisition of land for sezs. This follows Kerala government request to allow it to acquire land compulsorily for setting up state’s own sezs. The ban was placed after the SEZ policy came under heave criticism following protests against forcible takeovers in various parts of the country. The decision on the request of Kerala government is yet to taken but is believed that it would be agreed. A decision on this request could set the tone for decisions on land acquisition which could be expected in the months to come.

At the other end land acquisition by SEZS has come under tax scanner. IT department has upped that on tax deduction at source (TDS) on payments made for the purchase of land for these projects inspections and surveys by the department have revealed that in several recent sez land transactions, there was no deduction of tax. TDS in such cases has to be deducted at the rate of 1 percent for payments exceeding Rs 15 lakh though most companies that plan to set up an sez largely acquire land of their own they also form a SPVs with the state agencies or even acquire land through such bodies. Any such entity buying land has to deduct tax while making payments. Such arrangements arrived at to acquire land are under the watch.