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AP hits four, Centre will not denotify SEZs in Goa
Posted by Srini Uppala | January 3, 2008 | 444 views
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Loading ...The Centre on Wednesday gave final clearance for three Special Economic Zones in Andhra Pradesh and okayed another in principle, taking the number of SEZs in the state to 54. It also said that the three notified SEZs in Goa cannot be denotified despite the decision of the Goa Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, to scrap them.
The board of approval of SEZs cleared 24 projects and gave in-principle consent to four.
“So far, formal approval has been granted to set up 404 SEZs, and of these 187 have been notified,” said Union commerce secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai. For the first time perhaps, an SEZ for farmers will be set up in Nellore by IFFCO in 2,720 acres. AP Industries Principal Secretary, Mr Sam Bob, told this newspaper that training institutes for farmers and food processing units would be started in the SEZ.
Pharma giant Dr Reddy’s Labs got approval for its proposed Pharma SEZ in Medak district. The facility will come up in 100 acres. The Centre has also approved in principle an SEZ for building materials near Bitragunta in the same district. It is being promoted by IL&FS. The multi-service SEZ of Rasai Properties in Anantapur has got the stamp of approval too. it will come up in 1,000 acres. “In all these four places the promoters acquired land on their own,” said Mr Bob. “The government is not involved at all.”
Regarding Goa, the union commerce secretary said there was no provision under the SEZ Act enabling a state government to withdraw permission. “The state government has no locus standi,” said Mr Pillai. “The three notified SEZs have now become legal entities and therefore can’t be de-notified. Private players have also started complaining that they have invested heavily in these SEZs. Mr Amar Lulla, managing director of Cipla, said his company had already invested Rs 200 crores in its SEZ.
“We have already completed a fairly large amount of work,” said Mr Lulla. “We got no communication from the state government about scrapping it.” The Goa government had decided to scrap all 15 SEZs in the state on Monday following widespread political protests, including by the ruling Congress Party. Of the 15 SEZs, the Centre has already notified three— that of the K. Raheja Group, Cipla’s Meditab Specialities, and Inox Mercantile.
A panel set up to study the viability of the SEZs observed that they were not conducive to Goa’s development. Mr Pillai, however, said the developers had already invested much in the SEZs. “How will the state government compensate the developers?” he asked. The Goa government has not yet communicated its decision formally to the Centre. “We will write to the Centre and take it from there,” said Goa chief secretary, Mr J.P. Singh.
SOURCES:
Deccan Chronicle
Topics: SEZ |
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