BoA defers nod for RIL SEZ

NEW DELHI: A decision on according formal approval to Reliance Industries’ Navi Mumbai special economic zone (SEZ) was deferred by the board of approvals (BoA) on SEZs on Wednesday following reservations expressed by the revenue department on contiguity-related issues.
The revenue department wants to ensure that the bridges and underpasses planned by the developers to bypass the road and the railway line passing through the zone will not result in revenue leakages for the government, sources said.

The board, which took up 23 cases with in-principal approvals, gave the green signal to 16 SEZs including Vedanta Alumina and DLF’s SEZs in Orissa, Suzlon’s two zones in Gujarat and Karnataka and Enfield Infrastructure’s and Unitech’s IT SEZs in West Bengal. The ones that were deferred include Suzlon’s SEZ in Udipi, Greater Noida Integrated Warehousing in Uttar Pradesh and Sunny Vista Realtors’ services SEZ in Raigarh, Maharashtra.

Speaking to ET, commerce ministry officials clarified the seven cases not approved were deferred and not rejected. While contiguity is the main factor with RIL’s Navi Mumbai SEZ, in other cases, the board has sought clarifications on acquired land.