The experts who shared their vast experience were Mr. C.S. Gokhale, President (Corporate Development), Reliance Industries Ltd, Mr. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist & Head (Knowledge Management), NCDEX, Ms. S. Gayathri, Associate Director (Tax & Reg. Services), KPMG, Mr. S. Rohira, Manager (Tax & Reg. Services), PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. P.S. Raman, Deputy Development, Commissioner SEEPZ, Mumbai and Mr. Arun Giri, Buiness Reporter CNBC TV 18 who moderated the discussion.

Mr. Suresh Rohira detailed about the recent developments and updates on SEZs, giving relevant figures and examples. Mr.C.S. Gokhale, who supported SEZs said, “Yes, SEZs are in troubled waters, but should we not learn to fish in those?” He delved into historical background and quoted Ding’s philosophy of treating SEZs as laboratory of carrying an experiment of state capitalism at a least social cost. Later on Mr. P.S. Raman interpreted the various legal frameworks devised by government for SEZs. Mr. Madan Sabnavis questioned the whole purpose of SEZs and highlighted the risks associated with overdependence on export oriented economy. Ms. S. Gayatri dwelt upon relevance of Offshore Banking and IFSCs in line to SEZs. Mr. Arun Giri, having a profound understanding of subject guided the whole deliberation well. The discussion ended with a consensus that SEZs are still in the evolution stage and the best we can do is to plug the loopholes as and when they are discovered.