State Govt. data says only 10% of land reserved for SEZs in Maharashtra used.

Q: Hi, Maharashtra was once ahead of all other states in the country in setting up special economic zones (SEZs). But it seems to me that the city is fa behind compare to the other city setting up SEZ. Why?

Gurmeet,

24th February 2015

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Replies (6)

Hi Richa & all,
As per the Land rights activists, SEZs which are not taking off be denotified and the land returned to the original owners. In many cases it is found that developers acquired the land with the intention of removing the SEZ later and taking advantage of the rise in land prices.

Kiran Kumar, Chennai

26th February 2015

Comment

At the same time developers also say that SEZs in India lack supportive infrastructure. India selected to license a large number of SEZs without confirming proper infrastructure outside the zone.

Richa, Delhi

26th February 2015

Comment

@Kunal,
The Land Acquisition Act made it difficult to acquire land. Also, SEZs were meant to be largely tax free. The imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax and Dividend Distribution Tax made them unuseful. And we hope that the new Budget remove these taxes. The NDA government is said to be considering an overhaul of the SEZ policy.

Kiran Kumar, Chennai

25th February 2015

Comment

Thanks for the detail information Kunal,
The fortune of the SEZ projects across the country seems to be similar to those in Maharashtra. Of the 576 projects which received formal approvals across the country, only 152 became operational. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report tabled last year pointed out that almost half the land allotted to zones which had been formally approved had not been used.

Govinda,

24th February 2015

Comment

@Govinda,
It s found that in 30 SEZs in states including Maharashtra, investments had not yet begun in projects though land has been in the custody of the developer for 5 to 7 yrs. The SEZ policy came into force a decade ago but industry groups say market conditions and UPA government's policies blocked their growth.

Kunal,

24th February 2015

@Govinda,
You might know that the biggest piece of land was marked for multi-product SEZs which have had the patchiest record since they need more space than projects in the IT sector. The Indiabulls-led project in Nashik spread over 2500 acres has seen zero investment. The portion of the Navi Mumbai SEZ which runs into 3000 acres is on the path to denotification. The Bharat Forge-led project near Pune which spans 4300 acres is also in the process of pressing the exit button.

Kunal,

24th February 2015

Comment

Hi Gurmeet,
A recent result shows that 65820 acres of prospective SEZ land, nearly two-thirds the size of Greater Mumbai, are lying unused. Maharashtra had initially approved 147 SEZs, but only 24 began operations. Over the years, 23 SEZs were scrapped. For the 124 SEZs that remain in the pipeline, a vast expanse of 73376 acres of land had been identified. But projects on only 7555 acres10% of the land actually began operations.

Kunal,

24th February 2015

Comment

Hi Kunal,
But as per the official, all the land identified for SEZs has not been acquired. And a portion of it may already belong to the government, It is said that there are 3 levels of approval for SEZs. Land acquisition can begin once the in-principle approval is secured. The formal approval is given once all the land for the project has been acquired. After SEZs are notified, they can begin operations.

Govinda,

24th February 2015