Dahej SEZ has been conferred the Global Free Zone of the Year 2016 award – under the SMEs Asia category — by the bimonthly magazine Foreign Direct Investment, published by the Financial Times Group, London.

Dahej Special Economic Zone witnessed an increase of nearly 12% in its SME tenants between 2014 and 2015, following the zone’s participation in several trade exhibitions and marketing initiatives. The zone provides a range of practical facilities for its tenants, including banking and medical facilities.

Earlier Dahej SEZ was rated as one of the 25 best economic zones in the world, in a global survey of 700-odd ‘free economic zones of the future’ conducted by the same magazine. Dahej SEZ ranked 23rd in that survey.

The ranking was based on eight parameters that include potential, inward investment, business expansion, cost effectiveness and facilities.

It may be noted that following the enactment of the Gujarat Special Investment Region Act, Dahej has been notified as a petrochemicals and petroleum investment region (PCPIR). When fully functional, Dahej PCPIR, falling on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, is likely to touch an export target of Rs 62,000 crore.