Rehab authority questions SEZ land requirement

MUMBAI: Faced with protests by farmers in Raigad, the Maharashtra government is dithering on the issue of land acquisition for special economic zones.
The government is set to acquire and hand over 10,000 hectares of land in 45 villages in Raigad to Reliance for its SEZ project. However, questions are being raised in Mantralaya over actual land requirements for the SEZs.
"Do the companies really require thousands of hectares of land for setting up the SEZ? The industries department is flooded with applications from private companies who want to set up SEZs and other projects in Maharashtra and the department needs to assess if their land requirements are justified and reasonable," said a member of the state government rehabilitation authority at a meeting on Thursday.It was also pointed out that tracts of irrigated land in Raigad too would have to be acquired for the SEZ.
The authority's meeting was chaired by relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam and was attended by his cabinet colleagues revenue minister Narayan Rane and irrigation minister Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar. However, industries minister Ashok Chavan and the department's secretary V K Jairath were not present. The authority has now sought details of land requirements of all SEZs in the state and will be drawing rehabilitation package for affected persons.
About a fortnight ago, Reliance had made presentation to Kadam and other cabinet ministers about its SEZ project. In the wake of concerns expressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi about the displacement of farmers, Kadam had said farmer interests would be protected and decisions will be taken after hearing their views.
Union commerce minister Kamalnath has also written to the state government advising it that wasteland, barren land and single crop land could be acquired for the special economic zones. Since most of the land in Raigad is single crop land, Reliance's SEZ will not face a hiccup because of the central directive, a government official reasoned.