Navi Mumbai SEZ asks govt to relax norms

NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai special economic zone (SEZ) has asked the government to relax the pre-condition of making the 1,234-hectares zone contiguous before issuing approval letters to companies interested in setting up units there.

The government will examine the proposal in a meeting of the board of approval (BoA) ��� a group of senior government officials from various ministries such as commerce, finance and agriculture, which approves new SEZ proposals and various related activities ��� scheduled early next month, a senior official in commerce department said. The Navi Mumbai SEZ was notified in November 2007. ���The developer has also come up with alternative suggestions for establishing continuity,��� the official told ET.

The BoA approved the multi-product SEZ in March 2007 on the condition that the developer constructs all the required underpasses and over-bridges to ensure contiguity before units are established in the zone. As per the government���s instructions, the developer is expected to construct three road over-bridges (flyovers) and five vehicular underpasses for providing connectivity.

Navi Mumbai SEZ has proposed that it should be allowed to construct two skywalks instead of the flyovers. The BoA is scheduled to meet on October 5.