Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Scheme in India was conceived by the Commerce and Industries Minister Murosoli Maran during a visit to Special Economic Zones in China in 1999. The scheme was announced at the time of annual review of EXIM Policy effective from 1.4.2000. SEZ is basically a geographically distributed area or zones where the economic laws are more liberal as compared to other parts of the country. Within SEZs, units may be set-up for the manufacture of goods, provisioning of services, and other activities including processing, assembling, trading and repairing etc. A SEZ may be set-up in the public, private, or joint sector and /or by a state government and even by a foreign country. The minimum land area requirement for establishing a SEZ is 1000 hectares. Out of this total area, only 30-35% of area is used for setting up plants and rest of the area is used to provide housing facilities, malls, multiplexes etc. The area under 'SEZ' covers a broad range of zone types, including Export Processing Zones (EPZ), Free Zones (FZ), Industrial Estates (IE), Free Trade Zones (FTZ), Free Ports, Urban Enterprise Zones and others. Usually the goal of an SEZ structure is to increase foreign investment. In Indian, at present there are eight functional Special Economic Zones located at Santa Cruz (Maharashtra), Cochin (Kerala), Kandla and Surat (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Falta (West Bengal) and Nodia (Uttar Pradesh) in India. Further a Special Economic Zone at Indore ( Madhya Pradesh ) is also ready for operation. In addition 18 approvals have been given for setting up of SEZ at Positra (Gujarat), Navi Mumbai and Kopata (Maharashtra), Nanguneri (Tamil Nadu), Kulpi and Salt Lake (West Bengal), Paradeep and Gopalpur (Orissa), Bhadohi, Kanpur, Moradabad and Greater Noida (U.P.), Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Vallarpadam /Puthuvypeen (Kerala) Hassan (Karnataka), Jaipur and Jodhpur (Rajasthan) on the basis of proposals received from the State Governments. Any new policy or amendment related to the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will be very soon released with the new Exim Policy 2008-2009 on or after 31st March 2008. The policy relating to Special Economic Zones is governed by SEZ Act 2005, and the Rules framed thereunder.