Govt may lift blanket ban on SEZs
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007 12:05:08 AM]
NEW DELHI: The blanket ban on SEZs may be lifted soon. The government is
likely to allow the Board of Approval (BoA) to clear 111 SEZ proposals
where promoters have already acquired land and no fresh land is
required. The government had frozen SEZ approvals following violent
protests over land acquisition in Nandigram, West Bengal.
"As there is no land-related dispute over these SEZ proposals, it is
likely that these projects will be allowed to take off," an official said.
A decision regarding the fate of such proposals is expected in the next
meeting of the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) headed by external
affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, government sources said.
It is understood that the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Gujarat are mounting pressure on the Centre for lifting
the blanket ban on SEZ approvals. They have argued that delay in
approvals may send wrong signals to foreign investors. Besides, several
public sector companies are also awaiting approvals.
The eGoM has already allowed the BoA to grant "miscellaneous approvals"
to 63 already-notified SEZs "where no fresh acquisition of land is
required", an official source said.
Of the 304 proposals pending with the BoA, 111 already have land in
possession, a government source said.
posted by Sudarshan Rodriguez at 9:28 AM
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