Parrikar demands probe into SEZ sanctions

Panaji, Feb 12 (UNI) Demanding that approvals to four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for Goa be scrapped, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar has sought a probe into all the SEZs, including nine of those for which approvals are pending, alleging that the sanctions "lacked transparency".

''I will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and seek a probe into the sanctions. The SEZs are aimed at promoting the real estate business just before the Goa elections,'' he told reporters.

The former Chief Minister demanded that the state and the Centre should ''put on hold'' the four SEZs approved by the Centre. The state government has already started alloting land for the purpose.

''It is a massive real estate scam and several underhand deals have taken place, particularly for approvals in the Verna Industrial Area. The opening of SEZs would double the influx of outsiders in five years and cause problems with regards to infrastructural facilities, water and housing even for the existing population,'' he said.

A thorough probe into the 24 lakh square metres of land alloted for the four SEZs is necessary as it involves Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane, Industries Minister Luizinho Faleiro and the Industrial Development Corporation, Mr Parrikar said.

Under the SEZ rules, 25 per cent of land allocated should be used for the processing units and the rest for residential township. There was no rule providing for jurisdiction of the local panchayat, police, and any other official as the SEZ would be treated as a foreign territory, he added.

Mr Parrikar also opposed the proposal to declare the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat as an SEZ. If this happens, 75 per cent of the land allocated to the entrepreneurs could be handed over to real estate developers through backdoor methods, he alleged.

''We are not against setting up an SEZ, but it should be need-based so that it ensures employment to Goans,'' he noted.

Former industries minister Ramarao Dessai, who gave details of the nine proposed SEZs, took strong exception to the government's efforts to hurry the process of allotment of land to these SEZs even though the Centre was reviewing the very concept of the SEZ's in the country.

UNI