New applicants for Special Economic Zones (SEZ) would have to wait for up to a year before their cases are considered by the Board of Approvals (BoA).
"As the government has decided that it would dispose of 500 cases that were presented to it before April five before taking up new cases, the plans submitted after that date would have to wait longer," a senior official said.
"As BoA takes up around 40 cases in a meeting, for clearing the backlog 10-12 meetings would be required," he added. However, the government would continue to accept fresh applications.
At present, BoA meets once a month. More than 369 fresh applications and 162 proposals with in-principle clearance will have to come to the board for final clearance.
It is meeting on April 26 to take up issues related to SEZs that have already been notified. The board's meeting on May 9 will take up 20 cases of converting in-principle approvals to final approval.