Following the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government that Anil Ambani-promoted special economic zone (SEZ) in Noida is not ?as per norms?, the Centre has said that the project is ?as good as scrapped.?
?The state government has recommended that the project does not comply with the rules on land acquisition and hence it is as good as scrapped,? a senior official of the commerce ministry said.
Speaking to the FE in Lucknow, a senior industries department official of the state government said, ?The land acquired by the SEZ had a problem, as we understand it. Of the 2,500 acres of land required for the SEZ, only 400 acres has been acquired and that too forcibly. Since the Centre?s guidelines state that no forcible acquisition of land should take place, the state government has rejected the proposed SEZ and referred the matter to the Centre. It is now in their hands whether they allow the SEZ or not,? the state government official stated.
It may be mentioned that after taking over the reins in Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Mayawati had raised doubts on the project and had ordered an enquiry into the ADAG SEZ, which was approved by the Mulayam Singh government in 2006.