The Centre has told the Goa government that it was ready to scrap three notified special economic zones (SEZ) in Goa if the state government reaches an amicable settlement with developers of the zones by offering them compensation for the damages.
The Centre and the Goa government officials discussed denotification of the three notified SEZs in a meeting held here on Wednesday, official sources said, adding that a final decision will be taken only after the state government?s talks with the developers.
The Centre has indicated that the state would have to compensate the developers for investments made alongwith the interest amount to avoid litigation and other complications. Earlier, the Centre had stated that it was not possible to denotify the three notified SEZs in the state, as there is no such provision under the SEZ Act of 2006. The matter is pending before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay high court.
The tussle between the Centre and the Goa government on denotification of SEZs started in December 2007.
The state had asked the Centre to scrap the SEZs amid protests and citing that the zones would adversely affect tourism and environment. The state also said it does not have adequate water and electricity for such massive industrial activities. There was also criticism that SEZs will take away scarce land in the state. Out of the seven zones that had received approval from the Centre (three notified and four with formal approval), in six cases, the land was owned by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation and was acquired in 2001, much before the SEZ policy was put in place. Also, significantly, the GIDC had not so far returned the lease amount to the developers, officials said.