Chandigarh, August 22
With the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) failing to take off in Gurgaon, the company is now ready with an Integrated Township Project (ITP) on 1,200 acres of prime land.

The RIL is set to put the huge chunk of land to alternative use as the Haryana Government has issued a no-objection certificate (NoC) for the denotification of the SEZ. Haryana had recently unveiled its policy for setting up the ITPs.

An NoC from the respective government is mandatory for the denotification of the already-notified SEZ by the Union Commerce Ministry.

RIL’s proposed SEZ project on around 12,500 acres failed primarily on account of farmers’ reluctance to part with the land at meagre prices. The RIL was able to procure 2,583.68 acres of land for the Gurgaon SEZ - 1,200 acres from farmers and 1,383.68 acres allotted by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

But with the RIL failing to acquire requisite land for the SEZ, the Haryana Government took back the 1,383.68 acres allotted to the company last year. The Haryana Government had earlier allowed Reliance to develop an Industrial Model Economic Township on around 7,000 acres in Jhajjar district instead of an SEZ. The Jhajjar SEZ was supposed to come up on 12,500 acres. The company had promised to develop a Rs 40,000-crore SEZ over 25,000 acres in Gurgaon and Jhajjar.

The government recently allowed alternative use of land blocked under the notified SEZs for residential, commercial and industrial projects.

The INLD has demanded the return of land to farmers. Party’s state president Ashok Arora alleged big industrialists in cahoots with influential leaders purchased huge chunks of fertile land in Haryana at throwaway prices in the name of SEZs. Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Panchkula chapter chairman Vishnu Goyal said the state government should also extend the same incentives to the industry.