Two days after announcing that all the Special Economic Zones in Goa stand scrapped, realisation is dawning on the state Government that this may be easier said than done.

On New Year’s Eve, the Goa Government cancelled all the 12 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the works in the state following public protests. While eight of these were pending for approval, four SEZs that were approved will now no longer be notified, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said.

A Cabinet meeting called specially to discuss the fate of SEZs on Wednesday cleared the decision.

But the Kamat Government faces a tough challenge in the case of three SEZs which had got all the approvals and are now in various stages of construction. The protesters want even these projects dropped. “We will take up the matter with the Centre to denotify them,” Kamat had said.

However investors in the SEZs have already sunk in huge money and are in no mood to call off their plans. Cipla, which is setting up the Meditab pharmaceutical SEZ in Keri near Ponda, has almost completed construction work. The company’s lawyers are said to be planning to move the Bombay High Court after the state Government withdrew police protection to the construction workers.

The Rahejas, who are building the Mindspace Centre to house BPO and IT outfits at Verna in South Goa, are also in the final stages of finishing construction. So far they haven’t commented on the matter.

The third SEZ in the works is the Peninsula Pharma at Sancoale in South Goa. It is promoted by Jaidev Mukund Modi and Rajeev Ashok Piramal of Mumbai.

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