Govt won't back coercive land acquisition: CM

MUMBAI: The furore in West Bengal has put the government of Maharashtra on the defensive on the special economic zone (SEZ) front. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday assured the state legislative council that the government would not support coercive land acquisition by any SEZ developer in the state. Maharashtra has 72 SEZ proposals, highest in the country.

Mr Deshmukh was responding to a special notice moved by Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP) member Jayant Patil (not finance minister Jayant Patil) on the Maha Mumbai SEZ proposed by Reliance Industries (RIL) in Raigad district.

Mr Patil said the developer was trying every trick in the book, including coercive measures, to acquire land. Mr Patil also drew the government’s attention to the demonstrations carried out in several parts of Raigad district against the Maha Mumbai SEZ.

However, Mr Deshmukh, whose government has been accused of favouring the developers, denied the charges. “The government is very clear about its policy on SEZs and land acquisition. We will not support forceful land acquisition anywhere in the state by any developer.

Second, there will not be any land transactions without the mutual consent of farmers and the developer on the compensation package and the price of land. Third, agricultural land, in particular the paddy-growing land in Raigad district, will not be allowed to be acquired for SEZs,” he said.

The chief minister also put it on record that the government will not interfere in land acquisition for SEZs being developed by private developers. “We will interfere only in situations where the developer has acquired a large portion of land and faces some difficulty over a small remaining component,” Mr Deshmukh told the House.