No political wriggling out of SEZs: Kamal Nath

New Delhi, Mar 17 (UNI) The Government will not seek to ''politically wriggle out'' of the SEZ controversy after the killings at Nandigram, West Bengal, in the midst of an agitation against acquisition of farm land for setting up such a zone, according to Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

''There is no political wriggling out. It's an act of Parliament. Cabinet has considered it. But there's the question of land acquisition which must be fair, it must be equitable, it must be at the right price. It must be inclusive of the people,'' Mr Kamal Nath said in an interview, the first after the Nandigram killings, for the CNN-IBN programme ''Devil's Advocate'' to be telecast tomorrow evening.

The Minister said he was hopeful the Pranab Mukherjee-headed Empowered Group of Ministers would soon clear SEZs where no land acquisition issues were involved.

He made the statement in reply to question whether the Government remained committed to SEZs in the wake of the Nandigram development or would use the present freeze to politically wriggle out of the issue.

Mr Kamal Nath said Nandigram was a very unfortunate incident of land acquisition but ''we must not confuse land acquisition with SEZs. They are two distinct things.'' At this, Mr Karan Thapar, who interviewed him, asked: ''So the Government remains committed to SEZs?'' ''Absolutely,'' was the reply of the Minister, who also made it clear that Nandigram and political concerns had not put him off.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was also committed to SEZs, he said the government as a whole was committed.

''Where there is no land acquisition issue the Group of Ministers would consider such cases. Of course, there is a fear now where land acquisition is concerned, where land is in dispute, but where there is no land in dispute why should we be worried about it? I am an optimist, of course,'' he said, replying to a query on the GoM.

The Industry and Commerce Minister said he was worried that if clearance for such SEZs was not forthcoming several might opt out of India and take their investment elsewhere.

''Of course I am worried. There is investment competitiveness from Thailand, from Philippines, from Indonesia. If FDI is coming to our special economic zones it can also jolly well go to Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia.

''Investment has to be attracted. It can't be demanded. (If there are delays) they will feel unstable. At the end of the day they are here because they look at India as a credible country.'' MORE UNI