41 SEZs To Come Up For Approval On July 12

New Delhi: Within a week of a Parliamentary committee seeking the Government to put a freeze on notification of special economic zones (SEZs), the Board of Approval will meet July 12, to consider 41 cases, the clearance of which will take the total clearances above 500. The Board of Approval, headed by Commerce Secretary GK Pillai, will consider granting formal clearances to the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ and a Hindalco Aluminium SEZ in Orissa. The Navi Mumbai SEZ was deferred twice on issues, including protection of villagers rights, raised by the revenue department.

The proposal for a multi-product SEZ in Chhindwara, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath''s Lok Sabha constituency, is also coming up for clearance. The SEZ proposals of other prominent companies listed for tomorrow include that of Unitech, Parsvnath and Videocon. Undue haste in approving SEZs and their proliferation has contributed to the resistance against the policy. Of the 41 proposals listed for July 12, meeting, 31 require formal clearance while the others are coming for sanctions in principle.