New Delhi, Feb. 11: The group of ministers (GoM) today finalised the long awaited special economic zone (SEZ) legislation aimed at boosting the country's exports and creating more jobs.

The recommendations of the GoM meeting, chaired by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, will now be forwarded for cabinet approval, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath said.

The commerce ministry is keen that the legislation be taken up in the budget session of Parliament, beginning on February 25.

The umbrella legislation provides for a single window approval mechanism for SEZs and units in such zones. It provides for special tax concessions for developers of SEZ units and offshore banking units located in them.

It also provides for establishment of designated courts and a single enforcement agency to ensure speedy trial and investigation of offences committed in SEZs.

Under the proposed legislation, the state governments are expected to liberalise state laws and delegate their powers to the development commissioners of the SEZs to facilitate a single window clearance.

India already has eight SEZs. These are the eight export processing zones in Kandla, Surat, Cochin, Santa Cruz in Mumbai, Falta, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Noida, which have been converted into SEZs.

Besides 36 new SEZs have been approved, of which those in Indore, Salt Lake (Calcutta) and Jaipur have become operational. Two more in Jodhpur and Moradabad in UP are now ready for operation. Other SEZs are in various stages of implementation.

Globally, there are 847 SEZs functioning in 116 countries. The Indian concept of SEZs has been modelled on the Chinese pattern where they played a key role in promoting exports.