Govt may lift blanket ban on SEZs

NEW DELHI: The blanket ban on SEZs may be lifted soon. The government is likely to allow the Board of Approval (BoA) to clear 111 SEZ proposals where promoters have already acquired land and no fresh land is required. The government had frozen SEZ approvals following violent protests over land acquisition in Nandigram, West Bengal.

“As there is no land-related dispute over these SEZ proposals, it is likely that these projects will be allowed to take off,” an official said.

A decision regarding the fate of such proposals is expected in the next meeting of the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, government sources said.

It is understood that the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat are mounting pressure on the Centre for lifting the blanket ban on SEZ approvals. They have argued that delay in approvals may send wrong signals to foreign investors. Besides, several public sector companies are also awaiting approvals.

The eGoM has already allowed the BoA to grant “miscellaneous approvals” to 63 already-notified SEZs “where no fresh acquisition of land is required”, an official source said.

Of the 304 proposals pending with the BoA, 111 already have land in possession, a government source said.