MoC&I Notifies SEZ Rules 2025 for Semiconductor and Electronics Component Manufacturing.
National
In June 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), Government of India, notified the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Rules, 2025, which amend the existing SEZ Rules, 2006. The amendments ease land norms specifically for setting up manufacturing units for semiconductors and electronic components within SEZs.
- The original SEZ Rules, 2006, established by MoC&I, provide the legal and procedural framework to implement the SEZ Act, 2005, governing the creation, operation, and management of Special Economic Zones across India.
- The minimum contiguous land area for establishing an SEZ dedicated to semiconductor or electronic component manufacturing has been reduced from 50 hectares to 10 hectares.
- For multi-product SEZs in specific regions—such as Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, North-Eastern states, Ladakh, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli—the minimum land requirement has been lowered from 20 hectares to 4 hectares.
Main Point :- (i) The relaxed norms apply to manufacturing sectors including display module sub-assemblies, camera module sub-assemblies, battery sub-assemblies, electronic module sub-assemblies, printed circuit boards (PCBs), lithium-ion battery cells, mobile and IT hardware components, and hearables & wearables.
(ii) Land for SEZs no longer needs to be completely encumbrance-free; mortgaged or leased land to Central or State Government or their agencies can be used to set up SEZs.
(iii) SEZ units now have flexibility to export goods or sell them domestically with duty payment; they can also transfer goods to Free Trade and Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) or Customs Bonded Warehouses (CBW), and SEZ-based service providers can source raw materials and capital goods from the domestic market as well as imports.
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