Hooda denies acquiring land for SEZs in Haryana

Amritsar, Nov 12 (UNI) Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today made it clear that the government had not acquired a single inch of land for setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the state.

''We have fixed the highest rate of compensation for the land that is acquired (by private entrepreneurs)'', he said while replying to questions of media persons here on allegations by the opposition leaders that the government had acquired land for the SEZs.

He said that in case of the National Capital Region (NCR), the government, under its policy, could acquire only 25 per cent of the land for SEZ, but till now not even an inch of land had been acquired for the purpose.

In reply to a question on inter-state issues with Punjab, Mr Hooda said the issue of Chandigarh was interlinked with that of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. First a decision on the SYL canal issue was awaited, which was under presidential reference, he added.

When asked to comment on the decision of his government regarding the setting up of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, he said a committee had been constituted under the Chairmanship of agriculture Minister H S Chatha to look into the issue. He further added that the decision on the issue would be taken in accordance with the wishes of the Sikhs of Haryana.

In a reply to another question on the investigation being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former Chief Minister Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Mr Hooda said the CBI was a reliable agency and it was investigating the matter. However, he made it clear that he never aimed at decisions with a political vendetta in mind.

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