A day after the Maharashtra Government ordered that a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) promoted by electronics and white goods maker Videocon at Wagholi be scrapped, Group Chairman, Mr Venugopal Dhoot, said the SEZ would come up at another location in Pune district.
“There was a technical objection by the farmers to this location, but the MIDC has shown us some land nearby and the SEZ will come up there,” Mr Dhoot said. He added that the revised location would be firmed up over the next two or three months. “The Maharashtra Chief Minister’s condition is that the SEZ should provide employment to 10,000 workers. We will fulfil this,” he said. The company plans to develop 2,500 acres each in two phases. “In the first phase, we will develop 2000 acres and give it to anchor investors from the electronics and auto industry. We will keep 500 acres for ourselves, and whatever investment we will make will be only through profits,” Mr Dhoot said, adding that the role of the MIDC will be restricted to being a facilitator. In May 2007, Videocon’s proposed 5,000-acre SEZ had run into stiff opposition from farmers in the villages of Lonikand, Kesnand, Bakori and Wagholi. They wanted to develop the land themselves, along the lines of Magarpatta City, and had sought the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar’s help in resolving the issue. Following this, the State Government had stayed the land acquisition process in November 2007. Mr Rambau Dabhade, Zilla Parishad member and a land owner from Kesnand, said the notification of the scrapping would be issued in a couple of days. “After this, the name of the farmers will be restored on the land documents,” he said, referring to the fact that the MIDC stamp had appeared on documents pertaining to around 4,500 acres. Farmers from Kesnand have already entered into a partnership agreement with the Pune-based Citigroup to develop a township on 300 acres of land. With nearly 4,500 more acres due to be released, similar deals that are in the pipeline will see the light of day. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
