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 | Let Goa pay: SEZ promoters should not suffer Our Correspondent The Centre has done well by imposing a cost on denotification of special economic zones (SEZs). The Goa Government has been demanding the scrapping of SEZs in the state for quite some time, despite the fact that it had itself, among other authorities, given clearances to the setting up SEZs in the first place. Further, the promoters have already started work and sunk in hundreds in crores in the proposed SEZs. According to a news reports, "Six developers have so far paid two of the three installments amounting to Rs 280 crore to the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) for about 600 acres allotted to them. They have made investments of about Rs 500 crore over and above this." The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has told the Goa Government that it (the latter) would have to bear the cost of closure—that is, it has to pay the developers the money they have paid along with interest and compensate them for the investments already made on the ground. "At a meeting of the Board of Approval for SEZs on June 4, the Centre had made it clear that it was not possible to denotify the three SEZs since there was no provision to do so under the SEZ Act. But now, the Centre has given up. Officials in the Commerce department, however, said Goa refused to compensate the developers and was yet to initiate talks with them." The Goa Government's pigheadedness is because of the widespread protests against SEZs in the state. What has unnerved the state authorities is the fact that it not only professional protesters who are opposing SEZs; ordinary people are also resisting the upcoming projects. So, the state Government's demands are not the result of some dogma or idiocy; it is merely being responsive to the people's viewpoint. But this responsiveness should not be at the cost of businessmen who chose Goa for investing their money—the investments which would have created jobs for the people, enriched the state's exchequer, increased economic activity, and enhanced prosperity. They should not be penalized for the sudden U-turn in state policy and the change in public mood, for they intend to carry out activities which are not only legitimate but also desirable (this is the reason that almost all states woo investments). Nor should the Centre pay for the losses incurred by the businessmen, for this would burden all other states which had no role in approving, and later resisting, SEZs in Goa. The Centre should stick to the stand of making the exchequer and the people of Goa pay for their change in mood over SEZs. Posted on : 7/12/2008 Mail this article to your friend |