SEZs not a land-grab game, says Dhoot

Kolkata, June 30; Special economic zones (SEZs) are not a land-grabbing game, as the cost of land in any industrial project is only 10 per cent, and bulk of the expenditure is incurred on plant towards machinery and human capital.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 106th annual general meeting of Merchants Chamber of Commerce here on Saturday, Mr Venugopal N.Dhoot, President of Assocham and Chairman of the Videocon Group, said the displaced farmers need to be convinced of the beneficial fallouts of the SEZ project.

He said they should be assured of additional compensation by way of jobs to at least one able member of the family.

Quoting from a recent Assocham study, Mr Dhoot said the business confidence among investors in West Bengal was now at a new high, up by 30 per cent. Suggesting that infrastructure in Bengal was now good, he described his recent talks with the Chief Minister in Siliguri as fruitful.

Commenting on the issue of SEZs in his presidential address, the outgoing President of MCC, Mr Santosh Saraf, said farmers are concerned that they will lose their means of livelihood and that compensation by the Government will be poor. West Bengal, he said, was also facing the problem of land scarcity. “Besides adequate compensation, a scheme of rehabilitation and employment for the land losers should be provided.”

Quoting a recent Goldman Sachs report, Mr Saraf said labour was nearly four times more productive in industry and six times more productive in the service sectors. “As such, any fear of loss of livelihood by the land-losers is totally misplaced.”

Farm output He said farm output can be raised easily through larger investments in agriculture to improve the various key essential elements such as irrigation, fertiliser, pesticides, storage and cold chains besides the technological inputs.

Describing the West Bengal Land Reforms Act and the Urban Land Ceiling Act as a major drag on production, he said the latter has already been abolished by the Union Government and many other States.

The West Bengal Land Reforms Act 2005, according to him, does not allow private investment in cash crops, contract farming etc, “which could provide a big

boost to employment and income generation.”