Nasscom welcomes decision on IT SEZs

Nasscom on Thursday welcomed the government8217;s decision to scrap the minimum area requirement for IT SEZs Special Economic Zones, and asked for an extension of the STPI scheme by a few years. Tax holiday in STPIs is ending in 2010 while SEZs will offer a 10-year tax break in any block of 15 years. 8220;Nasscom recommends the continuance of the STPI scheme for a few years, allowing for an orderly phasing in of the SEZ scheme. The STPI model is particularly helpful to start-ups and SMEs who will no longer be at the mercy of SEZ builders and developers, and will be better placed to negotiate appropriate rates for space, and we hope that it will yet be considered separately, independent of the SEZ scheme8221;, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said in a statement.