Haryana to refund stamp duty of notified SEZs

Chandigarh, March 16: The Haryana assembly Tuesday made provision for the refund of stamp duty of the notified special economic zones (SEZ) in the state.

This provision was made by enacting the Haryana Special Economic Zone (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which amended Haryana Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, 2005.

"During the course of implementation of the Haryana SEZ Act, 2005, it was observed that there is no enabling provision for the refund of stamp duty paid by a developer while registration of land of the SEZ before its notification," said the official spokesperson of Haryana.

He added: "Therefore, need was felt to make an enabling provision for refund of stamp duty already paid once a SEZ is notified."

Over 25 SEZs are coming up in Haryana, which also include a Reliance Industries venture near Gurgaon, with an investment of around Rs.250 billion, which is probably the RI's largest investment so far outside western India.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said: "This provision will enable the refund of stamp duty for 31 notified SEZs, amounting to Rs.70 crore, which has been already paid."