Goa Govt can't denotify notified SEZs in State: Comm Secy 2008-01-02 15:01:32 Source : CNBC-TV18 Email Print Version [Watch Video] Watch Video
By Abhijit Neogi, CNBC-TV18 In another twist to the Goa SEZ tale, the Union Commerce Secretary has made it clear that the State Government has no locus standi to denotify notified zones in the state. The Chief Minister of Goa said that he will write to the Centre to denotify SEZs in a few days. This is a classic case of the State Government waking up to the fact that SEZs are not welcome in their State. Typically, the process that is followed for SEZs' approval is that the Government gives a lost of SEZ names that have to be approved by the Centre; more specifically, by the Board of Approvals (BoA). The BoA, under the aegis of the Commerce Ministry, goes and does that. Now, in Goa, out of the 15 SEZs, 3 are notified. A notification happens only by the Central Government; by the BoA. This means that the SEZ is a legal entity and can commence operations. There are 3 notified SEZs in Goa right now, Cipla being one of them. Cipla's pharma SEZ has already pumped in investments of about Rs 500 crore and costly equipment from abroad has already landed. I am not convinced that companies like Cipla would like to give it away so easily. Under the rules of SEZs, the State Government has no locus standi whatsoever to denotify an existing notified SEZ. The Commerce Secretary, GK Pillai reiterated this. The Commerce Ministry is reluctant to denotify all these SEZs. It does seem that they are on a collision course. The matter may now land up in the courts, though legally, these SEZs can be operational and functional. Pillai said, "Notified means the State has no locus standi to withdraw anything - there's no provision under the law for the State Government to recommend denotification." http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/goa-govt-cant-denotify-notified-sezsstate-comm-secy/17/35/319409 COMMENT: Wither goest Goans now ? - DEV BOREM KORUM. Gabe Menezes. London, England
