Maharashtra Sez Policy To Be Discussed Again At Jan 7 Meet

Maharashtra's special economic zone (SEZ) policy, pending formal clearance on one pretext or another, will be taken up for discussion yet again on January 7, 2002, by the inter-ministerial committee in New Delhi. The policy was submitted in April 2001 to the Centre for clearance.

A senior state government official said: "We have been consistently holding meetings, issuing clarifications and effecting amendments through government resolutions on various aspects as and when sought by the Centre. But the constant hemming and hawing on minor aspects of the policy is causing inordinate delays in the commissioning of the project."

Deliberation between officials of Cidco, the state government and the committee on November 28, witnessed the Union officials raising issues on the traffic and transportation to and from the proposed SEZ. The officials also sought to know about what implementation strategy had been worked out by the state and waivers of stamp duty and sales tax structure. The state has already brought out the order on the stamp duty waiver since.

"Another issue raised by the Centre pertained to the integration of the new airport facility project at Dronagiri and the JNPT seaport. The fact is that while the airport project is being undertaken by Cidco, JNPT has a participation in the project having committed 300 hectares of land for the same," the official added.

On the issue of traffic and transportation to and from the SEZ a road already has been constructed through a joint venture with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), JNPT (with Rs 130 crore investment) and Cidco (Rs 9 crore), he said.

"The next three years will witness the quadrupling of all roads around the SEZ. Besides, as far as the rail corridor is concerned, only on Friday at a meeting with Cidco and railway officials we were informed that goods from Panvel are linked to JNPT. A single goods line is already functional. In the next three years, a need for doubling the existing single line is not anticipated. Notwithstanding this, the project for doubling the existing line has already been sanctioned and is awaiting the budgetary provision being made," the official said.

Moreover, a joint project between Cidco (with 67 per cent) and the railways was signed way back in 1994 for the Mankhurd-Belapur, Belapur-Panvel, and Panvel-Vashi and sanctioned, he said.

The official added that once the formal approval was received for the SEZ from the Centre, the implementation could begin in right earnest by issuance of the customs notification.

Cidco has also written to the Centre for the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for including private parties for the project who would be provided land and liaisoning facilities for assistance in meeting with regulations for the project.

"Cidco would hold the majority stake of 51 per cent while the private sector would control the remaining 49 per cent. Subsequently this controlling stake would be divested by Cidco," the official said.

The state government has proposed to set up an ambitious SEZ project on 4,377 hectare at Navi Mumbai, deemed to be a foreign territory within India, and which hopes to attract foreign direct investment to the tune of $15 billion and upwards.

"The proposal despatched by the Maharashtra government was prepared on the lines of the guidelines provided by the Union ministry of commerce and industry, where the SEZ is defined as a designated duty-free enclave that would be treated as a foreign territory for trade operations and duties and tariffs," the official added.

With the state government and Cidco hopeful of the formal clearance being issued at the January 7 meeting at New Delhi, the latter has already commissioned an advertisement in the Economist slated for the first week of January inviting global expressions of interest for the Navi Mumbai SEZ project.