Farmers can be stakeholders in SEZ companies

New Delhi: Special Economic Zones are now associated with much contention thanks to the struggles of Singur and Nandigram.

But the government is planning to take some new steps so that SEZs can profit the farmers and corporate India.

Union Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said that the government may look at relaxing the 5,000 hectare-ceiling on land for Special Economic Zones once the Land Acquisition Act is in place, adding that the government may allow multi-product SEZs to acquire more land.

"Now, that the new amendment to the Land Acquisition Act and the Relief and Rehabilitation Policy is also on the cards, once that is enacted, wherever there is scope for acquisition of land or purchase of land in excess of the ceiling, it is a matter which the government would consider,” said Pillai.

The relaxation, if it happens would greatly benefit companies like DLF, OMAXE, and even RIL, who had initially submitted applications for multi-product SEZs, with more than 5000 hectares of land holding.

Pillai said the government intends to create employment opportunities for farmers whose land will be compromised. Farmers would also be given an option of becoming stakeholders in the company that comes up on their land. This move by the government will generate six lakh jobs in the 3 SEZs.

Earlier, the empowered group of ministers had capped the land-holding size of SEZs to 5000 hectares. Indian policy-makers seem to have been stung by criticism that Chinese SEZs are far bigger in size and so afford greater economies of scale.

But sources say that there are two important caveats - the new norm may not be a policy change, but may empower the board of approvals to consider relaxation on a case to case basis.

Secondly, it can only come into play after the Land Acquisition Bill and the revised Relief and Rehabilitation Bill are approved by the Parliament. However, these bills are likely to be tabled in the current session of Parliament.

With inputs from Abhijit Neogi

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