Maharashtra govt puts SEZ development on hold, to review policy

The BJP-Shiv Sena government will conduct a review of the SEZ policy put in place by the previous government

In a policy shift, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Maharashtra has put on hold the development of special economic zones (SEZs) in the state.

The government proposes to conduct a comprehensive review of the SEZ policy adopted by the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government.

State Industries Minister Subhash Desai told Business Standard: “The SEZ development is put on hold and the government will not consider any new proposal until a review is done. The government is flooded with complaints with regard to the non-fulfilment of provisions by SEZ developers, pertaining to the allocation of developed land to project-affected persons, lack of development within SEZs as per the government policy and also issues regarding the tax concessions.” The minister said the government will take a call on SEZ development after the proposed review.

Desai gave the example of SEZ in Pune, where the developer had assured to provide 15 per cent developed land to project-affected persons. According to him, Maharashtra has the highest number of SEZs in the country. He said time has to come to look into the viability of such projects. The government has reduced the number of approvals to 25 from 76 and will implement a single-window system to avoid delay in giving approvals.

According to the government data, 116 SEZs were approved by the Centre as on date of which more than 24 are functional, 63 have been notified and 40 have got formal approval. About 16 have received an in-principle approval. These SEZs were spread over 23,000 hectares with an investment of over Rs 1.60 lakh crore.

A state government official admitted that SEZ development was stuck due to policy and tax-related issues.

“Therefore, the Congress-NCP government in its industrial policy declared in January 2013 offered conversion of SEZ into an integrated industrial area. However, the government received only two proposals from the existing SEZ developers but there was no movement yet on this front,” the official said.