New Delhi: The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) for special economic zones (SEZ) will meet on Thursday to iron out all contentious issues regarding the matter. The SEZ policy could be in for an overhaul.
In an attempt to prevent a repeat of the Nandigram fiasco, the ministers’ panel may bar state governments from acquiring land for special economic zones.
Corporates might also be told to negotiate directly with farmers without government intervention.
The panel could also cap the area for SEZs at 5,000 hectares with retrospective effect. Government sources told CNN-IBN that the EGoM is also likely to cap the number of SEZs at current level.
Of the 234 SEZ proposals with formal clearance, only 63 have been notified. Of the remaining, 82 have applied for notification after completing all formalities.
The meeting of the EGoM follows a clearance from the Congress party last week on SEZs, which were facing uncertainty after violent protests over land acquisition at Nandigram in West Bengal and uproar in other states.
The party gave the clearance after pressure mounted from the Commerce Ministry and UPA partners, including DMK in Tamil Nadu and some other state governments.
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