The Hindu Business Line : Goa row: Centre to issue notices to 17 SEZs

Current status
SEZ proposals that had earlier been forwarded by the Goa Government but were yet to be put before the board would be treated as “withdrawn”.

Mr G.K. Pillai

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New Delhi, Feb. 25

The Centre will issue show-cause notices to 17 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Goa, including those granted in-principle and formal approvals, seeking to know why the permission granted to them could not be revoked.

The Commerce Secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, who is the Chairman of the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs, told Business Line here that this follows the recommendation of the State Government for scrapping all the SEZs approved in the State in the wake of widespread protests from the local population.

He said that SEZ proposals that had earlier been forwarded by the Goa Government, but were yet to be put before BoA, would be treated as “withdrawn”.

Trade policy analysts said that the Centre’s decision to give a hearing to the approved SEZs in Goa and discuss separately with the State on the fate of three notified SEZs show that the Commerce Ministry is keen on preserving its position as it had pushed hard for the creation of SEZ Act and SEZ Rules to offer policy stability to potential investors, domestic and foreign, in SEZs.

However, on the three already notified SEZs in Goa — Medibtab Specalities Pvt Ltd, Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd for an IT SEZ and Peninsula Pharma for a bio-technology SEZ — the Centre would hold talks with the State Government about the compensation package, he said.

Meanwhile, the Board of Approval of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which met here today, gave nod for 10 formal approvals and conversion of two in-principle approvals to formal ones in other States at its meeting.

Addressing the Board, Mr Pillai informed that so far formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 439 SEZs out of which 201 have been notified as on date.

He informed that over Rs 67,347 crore have been invested in these notified SEZs during a short span of time. Direct employment to 97,478 persons has been generated in the new-generation SEZs, which is in addition to the employment provided by the seven Central Government-established SEZs..

New approvals

Prominent among the formal approvals of today include sector-specific SEZ for manufacture of Transport Engineering Goods in Tamil Nadu by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT); mineral and mineral-based products SEZ in Madhya Pradesh by Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas (Jabalpur) Ltd; pharmaceuticals SEZ in GIDC, Panoli Industrial Estate, Gujarat by J.B. SEZ Private Ltd; and two SEZs for Handicrafts and Light Engineering in Jaipur, Rajasthan, by Mahindra Worldcity (Jaipur) Ltd.

Conversion of in-principle approval to formal approval includes automobile/automobile parts/auto ancillary and support services SEZ in Tamil Nadu by SIPCOT and IT/ITES/EH SEZ in West Bengal by Videocon Realty and Infrastructures Ltd.