BJP demands white paper on SEZs

MUMBAI: The BJP demanded a white paper on SEZs and setting up of a committee to look into the projects cleared so far. “In principle we support SEZs, but considering the rate at which SEZs are being sanctioned, there is something fishy,” senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said.

A committee should look into all the SEZ projects cleared by the government so far, he told a press conference here.

Mr Naidu also supported the allegation levelled by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya that some SEZs in Maharashtra were approved by the Centre within a few days of the application, ignoring the objections raised by the state government. He questioned the wisdom of setting up SEZs in the vicinity of Mumbai. “SEZs should be away from big cities. Mumbai is already crowded, SEZs would worsen its problems.” The former BJP president demanded that the Congress-led UPA government come out with a white paper on SEZs already approved and those in the pipeline to clear the air over the sensitive issue.

About the Singur issue in West Bengal, where BJP’s ally Trinamool Congress is opposing Tata Motors’ proposed small-car project on farmland, the former union minister said his party’s stand has been that fertile, irrigated land must not be acquired for industrial projects.