Govt limits cap for SEZs to 5k hectare
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 08, 2007 02:00:28 AM]
NEW DELHI: In a move that could dampen the spirits of those hoping for a
review of the 5,000 hectare ceiling on special economic zones, the board
of approvals (BoA) has rejected a proposal from government-run Kandla
Port Trust to set up an SEZ spread over 6,100 hectare in Gujarat.
Instead, it has asked Kandla Port Trust to develop the SEZ on 5,000
hectare land, in line with the cap fixed by the empowered group of
ministers (EGoM) headed by Pranab Mukherjee in April this year.
The decision has already been communicated to the port authorities who
are not pleased with the move. The shipping ministry and Kandla Port
Trust are of the opinion that the land has been lying with the port for
years and, unlike with other developers, there is no fresh acquisition.
The commerce ministry, which administers the SEZ policy, and the
shipping ministry are now expected to approach the EGoM to seek a
clarification on how the land ceiling should be applied. Based on the
ministerial panel's decision, the BoA will fix a policy which will
decide if the cap holds good for all SEZs or only for those that acquire
land after a stipulated date.
But Kandla's experience sets the precedent for the likes of Reliance
Industries and DLF which have planned the country's largest SEZs. The
Mukesh Ambani group intends to set up the Maha Mumbai SEZ and Reliance
Haryana SEZ that would be spread over 10,000 hectare each, while DLF's
proposed zone in Gurgaon, Haryana, is intended to cover 8,097 hectare.
Omaxe too has plans to build an SEZ on over 6,000 hectare land in Alwar.
On Tuesday, Reliance got a go-ahead from the BoA to start work on 440
hectare land in Haryana. While the company is hopeful of not just
acquiring 10,000 hectare as it had originally planned but also of
getting the government green signal for the multi-product zone, sources
in the government said there was no move to relax the 5,000 hectare
ceiling at the moment.
"Reliance or anyone else who has a permission to set up an SEZ can start
construction once they have land and the necessary approvals. But we do
intend to ask them to stop expanding the zone the moment they reach
5,000 hectare," an official said.
While officials at Kandla may not be pleased with the BoA decision, it
does help the port trust start work since it ends months of uncertainty.
The port trust's proposal was first held up since the home ministry
wanted to put it through a security check.
posted by Sudarshan Rodriguez at 6:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home