41 SEZs to come up for approval tomorrow

Within a week of Parliamentary Committee asking the government to put a freeze on notification of special economic zones, the board of approval will meet on Thursday to consider 41 cases that would take the total clearances above 500.

The BoA, headed by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai, will consider granting formal clearances to Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone and Hindalco aluminium SEZ in Orissa.

The proposal for a multi-product SEZ in Chhindwara, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath's Lok Sabha constituency, is also coming up for a nod.

The Navi Mumbai SEZ was deferred twice on issues, including protection of villagers' rights, raised by the revenue department.

The Maharashtra government has given its clean chit on these issues. The SEZ proposals of other prominent companies listed for tomorrow include that of Unitech, Parasvnath and Videocon. Videocon proposes

to set up a biotechnology SEZ at Siliguri in West Bengal for which a foundation stone was laid last month.

The Standing Committee of Parliament headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had said that no further zones should be notified till the SEZ Act and rules are amended to address concerns of displaced farmers.

"Undue haste in approving SEZs and their proliferation has contributed to the resistance against the policy. There is an imperative need to understand the cause of farmers' agitation and grievance," the committee said.

Of the 41 proposals listed for tomorrow's meeting, 31 require formal clearance while the others are coming for in-principle sanction. So far 339 tax-free enclaves have been given formal approvals and 162 in-principle. Of the 339, 127 have been notified.

India's great rush for SEZs