The Hindu Business Line : No review of SEZ policy, says Kamal Nath

New Delhi, Jan. 16 The Government has no immediate plan to review the special economic zone (SEZ) policy. This was stated by the Minister for Commerce and Industries, Mr Kamal Nath, here on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of CII Partnership Summit, Mr Nath said, “It has generated employment. It has generated investments. Also, it is an Act of the Parliament. I do not think there is any need to review the policy,” he said.

The States are, however, free to pursue their own growth models, the Minister pointed out. “The Centre will not thrust any SEZ on any State. The States can choose their own development model,” he said.

GOA SEZ

Regarding the Goa Government’s request to scrap all the 15 approved SEZs in the State, Mr Nath said that his Ministry was examining the proposal.

Goa had announced scrapping of all the 15 SEZs in the State on December 31, 2007. By then three projects, including one from pharmaceutical company Cipla, had already been notified.

A senior official in the Ministry said that The Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs is expected to meet sometime in February to consider Goa Government’s request.

“We will take the issue to the BoA which will meet in February to deliberate on the matter including the three notified projects,” the official said.

However, the official pointed out that while it would not be much of a problem for the Centre to accede to the State Government, the problem would arise in case of the three SEZs that have already been notified and promoters have started putting in their investments.

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