The zone is spread over an area of 112 hectares. Units established in the zone must be 100 percent export oriented. They are exempt from customs duties on new raw materials, components, consumables, spares, tooling, and packaging materials, etc. Import licenses generally are not required for such imports. The import of secondhand machinery, however, requires specific approval of the FEPZ board.
Goods produced in the zone also are exempt from excise duty and other levies.
The Cochin Export Processing Zone is in Trikkakara near Civil Station in Ernakulam. The units inside the zone are entitled to all the incentives normally available to similar zones, including income tax holiday for five years, license free and duty-free import of capital goods and equipment, exemption from central excise duty, liberal sanction of foreign exchange, streamlined procedures, etc. The seventh export processing zone is located at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Special incentives are granted for the importation of raw materials, components, and capital equipment. An eighth export processing zone is being developed in Surat in the state of Gujarat.