The government on Thursday announced substantial benefits to farmers, including a continuous source of income, for their land taken for industrial projects while making it easy for corporate India to acquire land with state help.The National Policy on Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2007, which was cleared at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, provides for land-for-land compensation, besides preference to affected families for jobs.
UK-based INEOS, the world's third largest chemical company, is exploring the possibility of setting up a catalyst unit at the Dahej Special Economic Zone in Gujarat.
On other counts, however, RBI has not found merit in the commerce ministry's argument to keep loans for SEZ development outside the ambit of commercial real estate exposure. It has reiterated that bank exposure for purchase of land for an SEZ and its development, will be classified as commercial real estate, while infrastructure development will not be treated in the same manner.
Three months have passed, but the Maharashtra government has not been able to finalise its report on the results of the September 22 referendum it had organised in 22 villages of Raigad district that form part of the 10,000-hectare Mumbai Special Economic Zone developed by Jai Corp, a company promoted by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani's close associate Anand Jain.
The oil ministry is believed to have turned down Reliance Petroleum Ltd's request to export LPG from its newly commissioned refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, forcing the only-for-exports unit to sell the cooking fuel locally.
The Adani group stocks continued to remain under pressure on Friday, falling up to 20 per cent in morning trade, after the US-based investment research firm Hindenburg Research made damaging allegations. Shares of Adani Total Gas plummeted 19.65 per cent, Adani Transmission tumbled 19 per cent, Adani Green Energy plunged 15.50 per cent and Adani Enterprises tanked 6.19 per cent on the BSE. Also, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell 5.31 per cent, Adani Wilmar dipped 5 per cent and Adani Power declined 4.99 per cent.
Even as Anil Ambani's proposal for a special economic zone in Noida was turned down by the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday, Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai SEZ (formerly called the Maha Mumbai SEZ) has also run into problems.
Mumbai-based pharma major Lupin will invest over Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) this year to create additional manufacturing capacities.
The alternative location is to be selected by the state government, which has appointed Mott McDonald, an engineering and development consultancy, to identify a new location.
Six infotech special economic zone projects of the Unitech Group, which owns the country's second-biggest real estate company, have been delayed by as much as three years owing to slowing demand and delays in government approvals, sources said.
An international airport mulled by state govt in Surat will help to help boost business as well as tourism
However, the central bank is yet to implement the government directive, which was issued after a decision of the empowered Group of Ministers, director general of the export promotion council for EOUs and SEZs L B Singhal said at an Assocham function in Chennai.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has recommended an overhaul of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act 2005 saying it has detected gross violations of duty and tax concessions causing it to suffer a revenue loss of Rs 1,75,000 crore to date.
Global investment firm Citigroup is bullish on Indian equity markets.
The government will come up with a legislation, which will have a fiscal package, including a 20-year income tax holiday for special economic zones, by December end, a top government official said on Tuesday.
The commerce ministry has projected Rs 21,631.94 crore (Rs 216.31 billion) worth of exports from the 63 special economic zones, which have been notified since February 2006. Till date, Rs 13,435 crore (Rs 134.35 billion) has been invested in them.
Having cleared over 200 special economic zone proposals, the Board of Approval will take up 46 fresh cases on Friday.
Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday emphatically stated that the government would not involve itself in acquiring land for special economic zones and investors would have to deal directly with the farmers.
After Anil Ambani's proposed special economic zone and land allotments in Noida, all big-ticket real estate projects are being reviewed by the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh.
Hong Kong-headquartered Growth-Link Overseas has announced it would invest Rs 300 crore to build a manufacturing facility for Nike footwear at Cheyyar, near Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu.
Leading real estate firm Unitech's investment arm Unitech Corporate Parks Plc on Monday said it has received nod from the Board of Approvals for establishment of IT Special Economic Zones at Greater Noida and Kolkata.
Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance has criticised the government for not doing a review of the tax exemptions given to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and an evalutation of the losses due to these.
Batting for the worried SEZ developers who fear withdrawal of incentives in the new direct tax code, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Friday said his ministry would ensure that the sops continue.
Reliance Industries has said the outcome of the Maharashtra government referendum on Mukesh Ambani-promoted Raigad special economic zone cannot be seen going against the SEZ since the ballot was cast by 'so-called farmers' and not the genuine landowners. About 6,000 land-owners took part in a first of its kind referendum to ascertain whether farmers want to give their land for an SEZ.
The pro-SEZ lobby is claiming that the benefits of dam are going to be minimal for these villages as the irrigation department has already committed water for various other purposes. However, the anti-SEZ activists are claiming that enough water is still available in the dam to irrigate the land in 22 villages.
A Parliamentary Committee has pulled up the government for going ahead with approvals for more Special Economic Zones without waiting for its report on the subject.
As the president of Assocham, Dhoot has asked Confederation of Indian Industry and Ficci to join him in requesting the prime minister to reconsider the move to ban states from acquiring land.
Justifying its stand on scrapping of Special Economic Zones projects in Goa, the state government has said the Centre has the power to denotify those which are not operational within the stipulated timeframe.
Already under fire from all quarters over special economic zones, an important parliamentary committee has firmed up its strong opposition over acquisition of farm land.
The Special Economic Zone concept represents another form of "Zamindari" system, Kali Ghosh, general secretary, CITU West Bengal Committee, said on Monday.
The eGoM on SEZ, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee could not meet since January 2007, as controversies and violent protests broke out on the issue.
At least clear zones where firms have own land, says minister.
A possible solution would be to set them up in the barren land or in land with low agricultural productivity.
Commerce ministry has written to finance ministry to retain all the fiscal incentives for the special economic zones in the new direct tax code.
The rehabilitation policy, which is being currently formulated by the Ministry of Rural Development, is unlikely to affect the special economic zones already approved by the government.
The, villagers, backed by the opposition, were protesting the acquisition of land for a Special Economic Zone.
After witnessing IT boom, Karnataka is keen on developing aerospace industry in a big way through a special economic zone.
