Union Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said SEZs are major export hubs of the country and Tamil Nadu is right now having more number of operational SEZ's. Tamil Nadu is the only state to have 36 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and all are operational.
After Tamil Nadu, Telangana ranks second place. Karnataka follows Telangana. However both Telangana and Karnataka share 26 SEZs. But based on the operational factor, it is Telangana which is in second spot. Regarding this Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said,
"Right now a total of 204 SEZs are exporting. As on June 30, a total of 15,04,597 persons have been provided employments in SEZs" She also added that there are 225 non-operational zones in various states of the country.
We hear from reports that the Government has approved 19 proposals for setting up new zones in ten states. This include Andhra (1), Maharashtra (4) and UttarPradesh (2). SEZs contribute about 25% to India's total exports. When the exports are boosted, this will help to bridge the trade gaps.
