After the long-drawn wrangling within the CPM and among the allies of the Left Democratic Front, the Kerala Government on Monday cleared the road for private special economic zones. The government has brought in a state-specific SEZ policy which would be binding on all SEZs, including the 11 which had already got the Centre’s clearance.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said 10 SEZ applications, nine of them in the private sector, would be rushed to the Centre for its final approval. The state’s SEZ policy contains a dozen conditions, mainly to ensure the welfare of workers and to curb the real estate interest of the developers. The state government has insisted that 70 per cent of the land should be utilised for industrial purpose. This is a major shift from the Centre’s policy, which stipulates that only 50 per cent of the land needs to be used for industry.

The other highlights of Kerala’s SEZ policy are:

•Supplementary facilities — housing, entertainment etc — to be exclusively dedicated for employees of that particular SEZ only.

•Reclaimed paddy fields would not be given SEZ status.

•The state would not acquire land for establishing private sector SEZs.

•Sales tax exemption for SEZ units would be limited to 10 years only.

•SEZs would be brought under the purview of labour laws, factories act and other welfare schemes.

•SEZ ventures would not be exempted from any electricity incentives.

• All applicants must sign individual agreements with the government, declaring their willingness to abide by the state SEZ policy.

... contd.