‘States can acquire 30 p.c.land for SEZs’

A GoM have decided to give state governments a discretion to acquire 30 per cent of the land required for an industrial project or SEZ, reports Samiran Saha.

A GROUP of ministers (GoM) set up to finalise a relief and rehabiliation policy on Thursday decided to give state governments a discretion to acquire 30 per cent of the land required for an industrial project or special economic zone (SEZ), provided the developer has acquired the balance.

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“The decision is not specific to SEZ but will apply to all industrial projects,” Science and Technology

Minster Kapil Sibal told reporters on Thursday.

The GoM, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, was constituted to frame a relief and rehabilitation policy for the benefit of the people displaced by land acquisition for SEZs and industrial projects.

The government had put on hold compulsory land acquisition by the state governments in April along with an assurance of job for at least one person per family displaced in the process of setting up an SEZ.

States were asked not to acquire land on behalf of companies setting up SEZs and industries after protests by farmers and social activists in various parts of the country, including Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, as well as in Haryana and Maharashtra.