Maharashtra SEZ plan put off

January 06, 2010

Mukesh Ambani and Anand Jain promoted Mumbai SEZ Ltd has suspended, for an indefinite period, its land acquisition for the MahaMumbai special economic zone (SEZ) in coastal Raigad.

The company may drop the project altogether, as it was not able to acquire “a minimum of 1,000 hectares of contiguous land” as mandated by the SEZ Act, the Business Standard has reported.

The company had acquired over 1,500 hectares, but non-contiguous land, at Rs 10 lakh per acre, by mutual consent. It is now considering a gas-based power project on the land. The company also awaits the passage of Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, whereby a company can acquire 30 per cent of land forcefully to achieve contiguity, if it has already got 70 per cent of the total land, the report added.

Mumbai SEZ officials declined to comment.

Citing sources familiar with the project, the report said the fate of the MahaMumbai SEZ was virtually sealed as the Maharashtra government had not recommended the SEZ proposal afresh for issue of in-principle approval by the department of commerce.

Earlier approvals for the SEZ had lapsed.

A senior state government official said, “As the land is not contiguous as mandated under the SEZ Act, there is no question of development as far as land acquisition is concerned. Approval to the company is subject to its’ filing of fresh application, along with fresh state government recommendation. The matter being a sensitive one, the government has yet to take a call whether or not to recommend for land acquisition.”

The official added that during a referendum taken in October 2008, farmers and villagers had cast their votes against the project and, therefore, the government would think hundred times before recommending Mumbai SEZ’s case.

“Chief minister Ashok Chavan is expected to ask the industries minister, Rajendra Darda, to review the case and submit a report to him,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Vivek Patil, a legislator from the Peasants and Workers Party, which is spearheading the agitation against the SEZ project, said a fresh protest would be launched if the government recommended the Mumbai SEZ proposal to the commerce department.