Mumbai SEZ can buy time from BoA for land acquisition

Mukesh Ambani-promoted Mumbai SEZ, a multi-product trade zone that is close to getting scrapped over its failure to acquire land for the project, has the option of approaching the Board of Approval to extend the deadline beyond Monday.     

"As the in-principle approval of the project would lapse... They will have to approach the Board of Approval (headed by Commerce Secretary) to seek time extension for completion of land acquisition," a senior Commerce Ministry official told PTI.     

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Mumbai SEZ Ltd declined to comment.     

The Supreme Court had on Friday rejected the plea of Mumbai SEZ Ltd for staying the land acquisition process.

The company, promoted jointly by Ambani and his confidant Anand Jain, had earlier approached the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the Raigad district administration to speed up land acquisition.     

The Mumbai SEZ Ltd, which was given in-principle approval in 2006, was to have come up at an investment of about Rs 40,000 crore. But, it ran into problems after local farmers opposed the land acquisition exercise.     

The state government can also issue a fresh notification. "In Maharashtra, elections are coming and I don't think politically the state government is willing to issue fresh notification," the official said.

In 2007, the Maharashtra government issued the notification for land acquisition and as per the Act they were to complete the acquisition in two years.     

The official, who did not wish to be named, said that the developers also have the option to buy land directly from the farmers, "but they have to buy at higher prices".