<b>SEZ Row</b>: No clearance for knotty zones: Nath

Two days after the violent protests in Nandigram over the acquisition of land for the Salim Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said that the government will not clear zones, which could affect the farmers.

"Wherever land has to be acquired, if it is not decided on how the land will be taken, the freeze on the SEZ proposal will continue. The farmers must get a fair deal while land is being acquired," said Nath, on the side lines of a CII conference here.

There are 164 zones, which have got the in-principle nod from the Board of Approvals in the Commerce Ministry, as they do not have the land in their possession. In addition, there are 300 proposals, which are yet to be considered for approval by the Commerce Ministry. Till date, 63 zones have been notified, in which the projected investments by December, 2009 is worth Rs 53,561 crore.

The freeze on new notifications and SEZ proposals has continued as the empowered group of ministers (EGoM), which last met in January, 2007, have to take a final decision on the contagious issues like land acquisition, rehabilitation of the project affected and tax evasion. Fate of 171 zones, which have land in their possession and had got formal approval from the Board of Approval, is on the doldrums because of the current freeze.

Perturbed by the current status-quo, chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat had written to the central government. The Commerce Ministry expects that the EGoM will give a green signal to these zones, once it meets.