Maha Mumbai SEZ in a jam: Residents, farmers oppose RIL's SEZ land buy

The Maha Mumbai multi-product special economic zone (SEZ), promoted by Reliance Industries, may experience difficulties in obtaining government approval. Some farmers and locals residing in the area where the SEZ is supposed to come up have officially registered their opposition to land acquisition. A number of land owners have informed the government that they do not want to part with their land and should not be made to do so.

Officials in the commerce ministry say that since the Centre had already decided that objection from even one land owner from the affected area would be enough to stall an SEZ project, developers will have to take some remedial action soon to save the situation. New rules notified recently by the government specify that land required for SEZs has to be surrendered willingly.

Commerce ministry sources said that the developers might have to exclude the area where they are facing resistance from the proposed SEZ. “It seems that the developers may have to lower their ambition and settle for a zone much smaller in size. Or else, the compensation package has to be made so lucrative that everybody accepts it,” an official said, adding that for some land owners in the area, adequate compensation may not be an issue at all. They are simply not willing to sell their land.

When contacted, a Maha Mumbai SEZ spokesperson said that the company had now come up with a very attractive compensation package. It is offering either Rs 40 lakh per hectare in cash or a combination of Rs 25 lakh per hectare, one job per family and 12.5% of developed land to the land owners. “We are hopeful that those who have expressed their unwillingness to sell, will accept this package,” the spokesperson added.

Interestingly, the validity of the in-principal approval given to the Maha Mumbai project runs out this week. The validity, however, is likely to be extended by the Centre under the new rules that limit the size of all SEZs to 5,000 hectares.

The government has decided to extend the validity period for all SEZs for a two-year period (one year at a time) if they apply for an extension before the validity period expires. In-principal approval is the first of the three-stage process the government’s board of approvals (BoA) follows while clearing SEZs. This is followed by formal approval when the land is acquired. After this, the SEZ is notified when certain formalities are fulfilled.

Sources say that one way to get around the problem could be to divide the area into a number of smaller SEZs keeping the problem areas out. Reliance Industries is attempting to chart a similar course for its proposed SEZ in Jhajjar, which had been planned over an area of over 10,000 hectares. For the Navi Mumbai SEZ, adjacent to Maha Mumbai, the company has received formal approval for a number of smaller SEZs.

The developers of Maha Mumbai had earlier proposed to build the zone over 10,000 hectares. However, with the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on SEZs deciding, earlier this year, to limit the area for all SEZs to 5,000 hectares, the size of the zone has to be mandatorily reduced.