Maharashtra needs addtl 50K acres for 72 SEZs

Maharashtra, which has got one-third of the 237 special economic zones sanctioned so far, will have to acquire a massive 50,000 acres of additional land to meet the requirement of the 72 proposed SEZs.

Of the 72 SEZs, five have been notified, 25-plus have received an in-principle approval while the rest have been approved.

"The state's nodal agency, MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), has got 1,40,000 acres of land under its possession and requires anonther 50,000 acres to meet the demand for SEZs," a senior state government offical said.

Of the proposed SEZs, 18 would be developed by MIDC jointly with private players. The land required for some SEZs includes the ones to be developed by Bharat Forge, Mahindra, Videocon and the Supreme Group, totalling 11,000 hectares.

Pune-based Bharat Forge would require the maximum (around 6,500 hectares) land among all these SEZs, the official said.

"This year (2007) should be better than last year because many SEZs would see the light of day and by the middle of this year, more land would be procured," the official said.

MIDC had appointed IL&FS to develop four SEZs and Pune airport in October last year and IDFC for developing three SEZs (including two for power) and an airport at Sindhudurg in neighbouring Konkan region.