Centre bows to Left pressure on SEZ policy

ECONOMY BUREAU
Posted online: Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 0125 hours IST

NEW DELHI, NOV 8: Partially agreeing to the Left’s demand, the
government on Wednesday said it would make changes to the SEZ policy and
also consider putting a ceiling on the total land area to be acquired
for multi-product SEZs.
The changes to SEZ Rules 2006 will take place in 2-3 months to remove
procedural hassles, commerce secretary GK Pillai said at an Assocham
conference here.

He, however, said there was no need to amend the SEZ Act. Pillai said
the BoA was also considering whether a maximum limit was required on the
land that can be acquired for setting up multi-product SEZs.

At present, developers need a minimum of 1,000 hectares for a
multi-product zone. Referring to concerns raised by the Left parties
about the huge SEZs proposed by companies like Reliance Industries in
over 10,000 hectares, Pillai said, “There is a talk about the ceiling on
total land holding. The issue needs to be debated upon. It is something
which we are considering.”
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=145961