Raheja, Vedanta requests for SEZ rule relaxation put on hold

NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry has put on hold a decision on requests from Vedanta Group and Raheja Developers for relaxation of SEZ rules relating to land contiguity.

Sources said a decision has been put on hold after representatives of the Revenue Department, who were present in the last Board of Approval (BoA) meeting on November 18, raised concerns of possibility of tax evasion.

Vedanta Group had requested that a railway track be allowed through non-processing areas of its SEZ so that coal could be transported to its group firm Sterlite Energy's power plant.

Sterlite Energy has set up a 2400 MW power plant adjacent to Vedanta Aluminium's SEZ.

While the Vedanata Aluminium SEZ needs to meet its energy requirements from the Sterlite power plant, the latter requires 17 lakh tonne coal annually. The movement of coal from mines to the power plant can be routed through a rail link connecting non-processing areas of the aluminium SEZ.

However, the contiguity rules do not allow such a rail passage.

Likewise, the Board of Approval (BoA) in the Commerce Ministry has also put on hold a decision on a request from Raheja Haryana SEZ Developers Pvt Ltd for relaxation of contiguity norms to enable it build an underpass.