The Union government policy on SEZ, came into effect from 1st April 2000. It is the latest and best thinking so far on India’s export policy and may even represent the future of industrial development strategy. SEZs need to be seen in the context of attempts by the Government of India, to launch second-generation reforms and also a continuation of earlier initiatives to boost exports: Export Processing Zone, Export Oriented Units, Software Technology Parks, Export Oriented Hardware Technology Park, Export Promotion Capital Goods Policy, Advance licensing and deemed exports policy, Free Trade Zone Policy…

SEZs allow the government to experiment with radical (in the Indian context) economic reform in a sufficiently large geographical area (minimum size 1,000 hectares) but on a localized basis, without the difficulty of introducing such reforms at the national level.