This has put the developer in a dilemma. If it pays more, those who have already sold their land will want to be compensated accordingly. Then there are farmers who do not want to give up living off their land as they do not have any other skill.
The company has been able to buy only around 10,000 acres to date. The project, as a result, has not been able to fulfil the contiguity rule, which mandates that an SEZ has to be a one whole unit. Hope, however, lies in the Relief and Rehabilitation Policy as well as the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, both of which are yet to be cleared by Parliament.
These will allow the Haryana government to acquire land to help the company fulfil the contiguity criteria. There is also hope that the area cap will be relaxed.
The company, refusing to give up, has changed its plan and is now likely to build two adjacent SEZs of 12,300 acres each in different phases. It has already gone ahead and started work in a phased manner. A multi-services SEZ, spread across 1,086 acres (439 hectares) in Mohammadpur, Jharsa, Narsighpur, Garouli Khurd and Harsau villages in the Gurgaon district, has been notified by the commerce ministry.
This means the area has been recognised as a tax-free industrial enclave. Work in scheduled to be completed by 2009, when units will be able to move in.
Image: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee takes part in a protest march through the streets of Kolkata. | Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images
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