Buddha govt looks for image makeover on SEZ
By TNN |
Highlights
KOLKATA: Post-Nandigram, the West Bengal government is trying to shake off its ���land acquirer��� image. Instead, it���s keen to take on the role of a ���facilitator��� of land for upcoming industrial projects.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a function organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce, Sabyasachi Sen, the state commerce and industry secretary, said, ���We may play the role of a facilitator, which will mean interacting with landowners and getting their consent. We will also work with private entrepreneurs and landowners to decide the price of land. Our aim is to ensure maximum land price for displaced families. We���ve done this for acquiring 300 acres at Barjora for setting up a steel park and 100 acres at Sankrail for a food park.���
The secretary observed that once land acquisition notices under Sections (4) and (6) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, are sent, people get panicky. ���The state government will, henceforth, sit with local people, discuss the benefits of the project and seek their consent before taking over the land. The state government will not have to issue land acquisition notices,��� he clarified.
Officials are hopeful that the latest strategy would enable the state government to avoid any further controversy on this sensitive issue. However, the commerce secretary ruled out the option of direct purchase of land by investors from landowners.
���It is an impossible task for the investor. Land in West Bengal is extremely fragmented, and therefore, the investor has to talk to a huge number of people. For example, in Singur there were 17,000 bargadars and farmers,��� he said, to buttress his point.
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Asked whether the state government will come out with its own SEZ policy this week, Mr Sen said: ���We are still working on it. The industry minister, Nirupam Sen, has gone abroad. He will have to go through it before we announce the policy.��� Incidentally, the upcoming policy will be part of the West Bengal SEZ Act, 2003.Download
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