Land issues bog down Maharashtra SEZs’

ECONOMY BUREAU
DATELINE



MUMBAI, APR 3: The Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has
asserted that land acquisition has been the main problem in the
establishment of special economic zones (SEZ) in Maharashtra. He termed
the Nandigram incident as unfortunate and said that farmers interests
need to be protected by offering a package especially for those farmers
whose land is to be acquired.
Deshmukh had already announced that the state government would not
acquire fertile land but the acquisition of semi-fertile or arid land
would be done for the purpose of setting up of SEZs.

He said new industries particularly the IT sector has potential to solve
problem of unemployment. The state government would play a role of
facilitator. "We want to see creation of more and more jobs so that the
problem of unemployment is solved,"he said.

Hinjewadi in Pune, which is being developed as a Special Economic Zone
by the MIDC, has become a world class IT Centre. Private IT parks are
being promoted in a big way in Maharashtra. The government has approved
setting-up of 146 IT parks all over Maharashtra, Deshmukh said, adding
that Nagpur was being developed as Asia's Frankfurt.

Maharashtra's strength lies in the number of educational institutions it
has. Even in any remote corner of the state, one can find either a
medical or an engineering college, the Chief Minister said. "The current
focus of the IT industry is only on turnover. IT should touch the lives
of the people at the grassroots levels. It should be made into a tool to
remove the curse of poverty,"Deshmukh said.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_archive_full_story.php?content_id=159995