Goa to take back SEZ land from three promoters

MUMBAI: After scrapping three notified SEZs, Goa government is now planning to take land back from three promoters — Cipla, K Raheja and Peninsula Land.

For many, the government’s decision to revert the land looks an attempt to show allegiance with local villagers who have been accusing the state of being soft on SEZ promoters, even blaming it of allowing ‘backdoor entry to developers’. Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, it seems, now wants to prove this wrong. He wants to snatch the land back from these projects.

Confiscating land, according to senior bureaucrats, is an attempt by the state to win over agitating villagers, thereby paving way for future projects. Even as industrialists point to the state’s negative growth and want Goa to rewrite its industrial policy, Mr Kamat is firm on his stand on scrapping three SEZs.

“If people don’t want (SEZs), then we will not go ahead,” Mr Kamat said. He had a ready answer to question on the impact this decision will have on the state’s investment scenario. “There are other ways for economic development, like bringing in non-polluting industries,” he said.

The tourist state is locked in a bitter battle over land with SEZ developers. The state’s decision to scrap three projects, after they were given all clearances, has landed in the court. The Centre too, is working out its response to the state’s move. Initially, though it thought of over-ruling the state’s decision, political pressure forced the Manmohan Singh government to steer clear of the issue. With the state government going a step further in taking the land back from promoters, the Centre’s reaction remains to be seen.

The development, however, has come as a big jolt to SEZ promoters. “This will force us to challenge one more decision in the court,” said a senior official of K Raheja Corp.