PSU fence may keep off SEZ land grabbers
By Amiti Sen, TNN |
Highlights
NEW DELHI: The government is considering a proposal to ensure that the private developer of an SEZ must have a public partner if the area exceeds 10,000 hectares.
The move apparently is to check the alleged land grabbing by the private sector. A partnership project with the public sector is expected to ensure a fair package and rehabilitation for the farmers. The option is likely to feature in the meeting of the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on SEZs next week.
The eGoM will take a call on possible amendments in the SEZ policy to address concerns related to land acquisition expressed by the Left parties and others. New proposals for setting up SEZs will be taken up only after the eGoM on SEZs takes a call on introducing possible caps on the zones.
The board of approval meeting scheduled for Friday has been postponed and will take place after the eGoM meet on January 22. At present, there are two SEZ proposals where the area is 10,000 hectares or more. The proposals, both by Reliance, are for setting up multi-product SEZs in Jhajjar (Haryana) and Maha Mumbai (Maharashtra).
Interestingly, in both the proposals, the state industrial corporations too have been roped in. However, the eGoM may come up with specific suggestions to increase public sector involvement in SEZ projects, especially in the process of acquiring land to increase accountability, sources said.
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Land acquisition for the Maha Mumbai SEZ is facing a lot of opposition as a large number of small shop owners would be displaced. Following large-scale protests in Nandigram (West Bengal) over land acquisition for Indonesian Salim group���s chemicals SEZ, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had advised commerce and industry minister to exercise caution in the process. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has promised that a new rehabilitation package for the displaced being prepared by the rural development ministry will be ready in three months. The eGoM will also consider placing caps on IT SEZs based on certain stated conditions such as location. A total of 143 proposals for IT SEZs, to be located mostly in tier-I cities, have been approved by the government.
Speaking to ET, commerce ministry officials said that some Left parties had proposed a ceiling of 10,000 hectares on SEZs, which was unlikely to be accepted.
The Left parties have been raising their voice against alleged ���land grabbing��� for building SEZs and have demanded that the SEZ Act should be amended to lay down the maximum area that can be allotted to an SEZ. At present, the SEZ Act lays down only the minimum area. Other concerns to be addressed include acquisition of fertile agriculture land and the need to increase processing area in SEZs.
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