New Delhi, January 3
A big question mark hangs over the much-touted Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy of the Congress-led UPA government, with the Centre today bowing to the pressure of its own state government, indicating a review of all SEZs, including the notified ones, in Goa.

Commerce minister Kamal Nath’s assertion, after a meeting here with Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, that “Centre can review all Goa SEZs” is bound to create not only confusion over the consistency of the policy but could also hurt the sentiments of investors, who have been facing the heat in other states like West Bengal, Maharashtra and Haryana.

“There was absolute provision in the SEZ Act for everything, including review of the notified zones,” Nath told newspersons after his meeting with Kamat.

Moreover, the commerce and industry minister’s statement is in contrast to the indications given by commerce secretary G.K. Pillai yesterday that denotification of the notified SEZs in Goa would be a difficult proposition since they had become “legal entities” after their notification.

Pillai said that except the three notified zones, there should be no problem in scrapping other SEZs as the Centre would like to honour the sentiments of the state.

There have been protests against SEZs in several states, including West Bengal, Maharashtra and Haryana, but Goa is the first Congress-ruled state to have gone back on the SEZ policy.

Shiv Kumar adds from Mumbai: However, state government officials in Goa say land use is a state issue and the government would employ rules pertaining to land use to force the three SEZs to quit.

The three SEZs that have already obtained permission and began construction work are Meditab, a pharma-based SEZ promoted by Cipla, Mindspace IT SEZ promoted by the Rahejas and a third pharma SEZ promoted by some Mumbai-based entrepreneurs.

Opponents led by the BJP, the Catholic Church and sections of the Congress say Goa does not have adequate infrastructure to support the influx of so many people in the next three to five years. Shortly after Christmas, a task force headed by Kamat himself to study the implications of the SEZs concluded that these projects would be detrimental to the interests of Goans.

New Delhi, January 3
When Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat stood firm on his decision to scrap all Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects in his home state during his meeting with commerce minister Kamal Nath today, he was not speaking for himself alone but articulating the views of a large section in the Congress which has never been comfortable with the direction of the UPA government’s economic policies.

By stating his views firmly and forcefully, Kamat was actually telling the proponents of economic liberalisation that their policies are not acceptable to the people. SEZs are being seen as a symbol of all that has gone wrong with the government’s economic policies.

After his meeting with Kamal Nath, Kamat told mediapersons that he apprised the minister about the serious ramifications of going ahead with these projects that had met with strong public protests. He said he would be writing to the Centre within the next two days seeking a formal rollback on all 15 SEZ proposals, including the three that have already been notified.

“The situation in Goa is not conducive for setting up SEZs. Goa is not like other states...it is primarily a tourist destination and there is severe shortage of land here,” he said repeatedly.

Refusing to comment whether the state government had no powers to denotify a SEZ, Kamat said his government would not take any decision against the wishes of the people. He said it was first necessary to explain the advantages of such projects to the local people, an exercise that was not conducted in Goa. All projects were cleared by the previous Congress government. As for the three firms whose projects have been notified, Kamat retorted angrily that he could not fight their battles.

Kamat also made it clear that his decision had the backing of Congress president Sonia Gandhi as he had met her about 10 days ago and apprised her of the ground situation. Similarly, he had also briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he visited Goa last week.

Whatever the ramifications of the Goa CM’s decision for other states, Kamat has emerged as hero for a large number of Congressmen who have called up to congratulate him for taking such a bold decision.