The Goa government has decided not to give up on special economic zones and asked the Centre to review its recent letter expressing helplessness to denotify three exclusive industrial enclaves.

"We are firm in our decision and there is no going back on our stand," said Goa's Chief Minister Digamber Kamat.      On Monday, the Commerce Ministry had said there is no provision to denotify the SEZs which are approved. Its stand came as a shot in the arm for SEZ promoters who are fighting a legal battle against the state government's stop- work order.

In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre.

"We will go back to the Centre on this issue," Kamat said after the meeting last evening attended by state chief secretary J P Singh and Member of Parliament Shantaram Naik among others.

The chief minister said the state government will re-examine the entire SEZ Act.

The three SEZs for Meditab Specialities, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and K Raheja Corporation had started work on the sites before the state government issued them stop-work orders.