'SEZ, inclusive growth should go together'

Assocham president Venugopal N Dhoot on Wednesday addressed a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy requesting him to make special economic zones (SEZs) a part of the inclusive growth strategy.

Making land losers partners in prosperity, locating SEZs in backward and naxal-prone areas like Telangana, and ensuring that only barren and wastelands are given for the purpose are some of the suggestions he offered for attain this goal.

"Initially, things did seem to be very smooth and the concept was received equally well by industry as well as policy makers. Subsequently, it has caught the imagination of politically vested interests that have led to widespread confusion on the topic. Assocham is of the view that in this context, certain comprehensive measures have to be adopted to ensure that SEZs truly fulfill the mandate of generating economic activity, employment and well-being," he said in the letter.

Andhra Pradesh has been granted over 70 SEZs, so far the largest number in any state in the country, covering a range of activities.

Though Opposition parties including the Telugu Desam and the Left have been protesting against land acquisition for SEZs in general, the government has been encouraging direct negotiations between industrialists and farmers for purchase of lands besides asking companies to provide liberal compensation packages to the land losers.

Jindal South-West Aluminium Ltd, which is acquiring close to 1,000-acre land in the S Kota area in Vizianagaram district, has offered a Rs 8-lakh package that includes Rs 2.25 lakh cash, Rs 1.75 lakh in shares, Rs 3 lakh cash if the family does not intend to utilise the offer of employment in the proposed aluminium refinery project and a house, or Rs 1.5 lakh cash if the family does not want a house. It has also offered to pay a minimum wage for 300 days. However, the compensation package varies from company to company.

"In the large-scale SEZ or industrial projects, 10-12 per cent land in the developed project should be returned on a commensurate basis to farmers, who have given their land for development. This will lead to an all-inclusive growth and will be a win-win situation for all the involved parties," Dhoot stated.

While terming the imposition of upper cap of 5,000 hectares for a multi-product SEZ as a balanced decision, he, however, favoured a flexible approach from the government stating that the Chinese experience showed that the bigger the scale the better was the project.

But, he said that SEZs necessarily need to be away from urban centres so that they supplement them and not draw on their scarce resources.