It appears to be the end of the road for the Mumbai Special Economic Zone near Raigad, billed as one of the largest multi-product SEZs in the country.

The Maharashtra Government has de-notified the SEZ promoted by Mr Mukesh Ambani along with Mr Anand Jain as they could not meet the deadline for land acquisition. The State's move has opened up the land for use by its original owners — farmers, but issues such as compensation and future use of the land are not clear.

There has been no reaction from the senior Reliance scion.

Mr Ambani in his personal capacity holds stake in Jai Corp, the developer of the project. Land from 45 villages of Raigad district was to be developed for the SEZ.

The State Government's de-notification comes even as the country sees opposition from farmers and locals against SEZ projects.

Late on Friday, the State Revenue Department asked Konkan's Divisional Commissioner and District Collector of Raigad to remove remarks regarding land acquisition from the 7/12 extract of 24,000 farmers whose land is now spread over 16,900 acres. They are now free to utilise their land as they deem fit.

According to a senior official in the Revenue Department, by scrapping the SEZ an unprecedented situation has arisen; the company is left with 3,700 acres meant for an SEZ, but it cannot be developed on those lines. The Government has a tough task on deciding the use of this land, he said.

In 2005, the SEZ was envisaged to be the largest multi-product one in the country. In 2006, land acquisition for 20,600 acres began. But the project faced vehement opposition from farmers. The Government held a referendum, but the result was not made public.

In view of the anti-SEZ movement gaining strength across the country, the State decided against acquiring land for the private project, a Government official said.

Mr N.D. Patil, Head of Peasants and Workers Party and SEZ Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (which led a sustained agitation against the project), told Business Line the project is now as good as dead. The people's movement has thwarted the attempt to grab land for real estate development, he said. The Government's land acquisition was a forcible one, that too under the antiquated 1894 Land Acquisition Act, he said.

“In our protest we did not resort to any violent tactics. None of the government officials or their offices were attacked by us.

“In 2008, they (State Government) tried to impose a referendum on us, which has no legal sanctity. Just like political election the government thought that they could manage the verdict in their favour. But due to our sustained campaign the tables were turned on them. The result of the referendum was never made public.”

“Maharashtra has lakhs of acres of fallow land. If these companies are really interested in developing industries they must acquire these land and develop their industries, or go to Yavatmal where all the farmer suicides are taking place. Why is all the SEZ work happening around Mumbai and Pune?”

Farmers who sold their land to Jai Corp have done the commercial transaction at their own peril. Neither the party nor the Samiti will intervene, he added.

In spite of repeated efforts, senior Jai Corp or RIL officials were not available for comment.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW