'Farmers' land should not be taken for SEZs'

Farm land should not be acquired for setting up special economic zones, Maharashtra Finance Minister Jayantrao Patil said in New Delhi on Friday.

"Only non-agricultural land or land otherwise lying waste should be acquired for setting up SEZs," he said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference, Patil said: "We have given our opinion on the issue to the Union government."

Describing SEZs as growth engines of the economy, Patil said the interests of farmers should be looked after while acquiring land for SEZs. On income tax and excise exemptions granted by the Centre, Patil said these should not be restricted to only a handful of states but should cover all 150

backward districts in the country.

"This will enable uniform growth to take place across the backward districts instead of development getting concentrated in just a few areas," Patil said.

If exemptions are granted to just three or four states, corporate investment will tend to flow to only these areas. Other backward districts will be unable to attract investments because of lack of infrastructure, he said.