Bengal SEZ builders seek more time

Sounak Mitra, Calcutta
The Telegraph
Many developers of SEZs in Bengal, which have received in-principle approval from the commerce ministry, have either shelved their plans or want more time to acquire land.

Among them are Purnendu Chatterjee-led The Chatterjee Group, Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon and a city-based Rahul Saraf-headed consortium.

A proposed SEZ first gets in-principle approval, when the developer is yet to get land. After the developer acquires land, the SEZ gets formal approval. Following the formal approval, an SEZ is notified by the central government.

The Chatterjee Group — which had obtained in-principle approval for an IT SEZ on 494 acres in Siliguri — has dropped its plans because of land acquisition problems. A few months back, DLF had sought a denotification for a proposed IT SEZ over 10.12 hectares at Rajarhat.

At present, there are three SEZs in the state— Falta, Manikanchan and Wipro. Till March 2009, the government has given in-principle approval to 14 proposals in the state, formal approval to 14 and notified 9.