Amid a referendum to find if farmers are willing to part with their land for Reliance SEZ at Raigard in Maharashtra, the Union commerce ministry said on Monday it would refuse clearance in case it is found that the state has compulsorily acquired land.
"We have said very clearly if there is compulsory acquisition, no SEZ. Nothing prevents the state government from acquiring land and giving it to Reliance if they want to. But I will not declare it as SEZ (if) the acquisition is compulsory," a top official said in New Delhi.
The Reliance SEZ, which was initially proposed on 10,000 hectares, has received in-principle approval. For a formal clearance from the Centre, it will need land in its possession.
In the first of its kind, district authorities in Raigad have completed a referendum, in which about 6,000 land-owners participated giving their opinions whether they supported or opposed the Reliance SEZ. However, the results of the poll are yet to be made public.
The Centre had put a ban on compulsory acquisition of land for an SEZ along with a ceiling of 5,000 hectares. The decision was taken by the empowered Group of Ministers, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in April 2007 following wide-spread protests.