The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Two bills passed without debate in Assembly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Two bills passed without debate in Assembly

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Two important bills were introduced and passed within five minutes without a debate in the Assembly on Tuesday, shortly before it was adjourned sine die.

The first bill, which was introduced by Finance Minister K. Rosaiah, was aimed at amending the Andhra Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act of 2005 so as to bring down the Government's revenue deficit to zero by March 2009 and discipline the finances by various fiscal means.

The second bill seeks to develop special economic zones in the State. Major Industries Minister J. Geetha Reddy who introduced it, said the legislation would enable the Government to provide concessions and incentives to developers of these zones. The units coming up in these zones would have single-window facility for clearances and would be exempted from stamp duty and registration fees. Normal labour laws would not apply to them, she said.

The Minister said the special economic zones are being set up in line with the Central policy to develop infrastructural facilities for export production. The zones would be headed by development commissioners.

As soon as Speaker K. R . Suresh Reddy asked the Ministers at the end of the session to introduce the two bills, they read out the relevant portions. The Speaker declared them "passed" amid the din caused by desk-thumping by the Congress members and slogan-shouting by the Opposition members, who were staging a dharna near the podium.

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