• Vijaya Rudraraju

The first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in India was established in 1965 followed by six more public sector SEZs by 1990. A decade later, the SEZ Policy and Act were introduced to add impetus and clarity to the concept. The zones, projected as engines of economic growth, were envisioned to boost the export performance of the country apart from creating employment opportunities, generating additional economic activity, and developing infrastructure, among many others. As expected, the policy initiative received a tremendous response, ultimately resulting in the establishment of hundreds of SEZs across the length and breadth of the country, with several more in the pipe line. Over a period of time, the SEZ concept has attracted appreciation as well as criticisms on several fronts from varied quarters. In addition to this, SEZs are a part of a larger and dynamically changing environment. Therefore, it becomes imminent to continuously update and evaluate the performance of these zones. Hence, the primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of Indian SEZs in terms of select indicators such as exports, investment and employment during the period 1965-2010. In addition to the above, the paper also aims at assessing the contribution of Indian SEZs (ISEZs) to India’s total exports during the same period.

Key Words: SEZ, Performance evaluation, exports, NFE, employment.

"Performance of Indian SEZS - 1965 to 2010", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no.m665-m670, May-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305C94.pdf

"Performance of Indian SEZS - 1965 to 2010", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 5, page no. ppm665-m670, May-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2305C94.pdf