Govt nod to 16 SEZs, RIL zone on hold

The government has formally approved 16 special economic zones (SEZs), and deferred a decision on seven of the 23 proposals taken up for discussion.

Major approved SEZs included two of wind-power company Suzlon, while the deferred proposals include Reliance Industries' big-ticket Navi Mumbai SEZ.

With the latest approvals, given by an inter-ministerial Board of Approval, the total number of formally approved zones stands at 250. Of these, 100 have been notified by the law ministry, the last stage for the companies to start actual construction.

The board has met after a long gap, principally due to controversies over rehabilitation of and compensation for farmers dispossessed by land acquisition for SEZs. The zones taken up for consideration had previously received approvals "in principle". 
 

PAST THE POST Major SEZs among 16 granted formal approval on Wednesday
Company	Location	Type	Land  size in  hectares
Suzlon  Infrastructure	Vadodara, Gujarat	High-tech  engineering	115.73
Suzlon  Infrastructure	Near Mangalore  Port, Karnataka	High-tech   engineering	486
TIDCO	Tirunelveli,  Tamil Nadu	Multi-product	1020
TIDCO	Tiruvallur, TN	Multi-product	1214
Vedanta Alumina	Jharsuguda, Orissa	Aluminium	242.81
New Chennai  Township	Kancheepuram,  Tamil Nadu	Engineering	126.26
New Chennai  Township	Kancheepuram,  Tamil Nadu	Multi services	121.41
Source: Ministry of Commerce

On the Navi Mumbai SEZ in Maharashtra, a commerce ministry official said the board deferred a decision due to issues related to contiguity of the land. Objections were raised by the Department of Revenue, which is concerned that products could leak to the domestic tariff area because of a railway line that runs through the zone.

"The bridges and underpasses need to be properly sealed. The revenue department wants the plans of the developer in a proper format, which will then be verified by the office of the Commissioner of Customs in Mumbai," a commerce ministry official said today.

Reliance Industries' Navi Mumbai SEZ Ltd plans to build over-bridges and underpasses to link different areas of the zone. The board will examine the Navi Mumbai case as well as 40 other fresh zones at its next meeting, scheduled for May 31.

Other zones for which the decision was deferred today include the Suzlon zone at Udipi, Karnataka (port based high-tech engineering products, 202.34 hectares), a zone of Greater Noida Integrated Warehousing Private Ltd (free trade ware housing zone, 80 hectares), one of Enfield Infrastructure at 24 Parganas, West Bengal (infotech and enabled services, 16 hectares), and a Sunny Vista zone at Raigadh, Maharashtra (services, 103.2 hectares).

"Greater Noida Integrated Warehousing had not taken possession of the land given to them, while Enfield Infrastructure has not acquired the entire land. A decision on the Sunny Vista zone was deferred because the Maharashtra government raised some objections," the official added.

According to the SEZ Act of 2005, there has to be a consensus among the 19 members of the board, headed by the commerce secretary, currently Gopal K Pillai. Representatives from 16 central and state government departments are on the board. If any of these departments raise an objection, the decision is deferred by the board.

Reliance Industries' Jamnagar SEZ, which had sector-specific formal approval, was recently upgraded to a multi-product zone, after the rules related to land contiguity were relaxed.