There may finally be some respite in sight for special economic zones (SEZs) embroiled in the contention over the ‘vacancy of land’ issue with the law ministry ruling that ‘vacant land’ be defined as that on which no third party can lay claim.

The issue first came up in the case of Essar Steel’s SEZ at Hazira in Gujarat when the finance ministry raised an objection to the presence of an existing structure on the SEZ site. The commerce ministry, on the other hand, was reportedly of the view that as long as land had been rightfully acquired by the SEZ developer, any private structure on that stretch of land should be considered as vacant. However, the finance ministry interpreted ‘vacancy’ literally to mean that the land acquired be free of any previously existing structures. Apart from Essar’s project at Hazira, the issue has a direct bearing on the SEZ status of Adani Group’s multi-product Mundra Port and SEZ as well.

The issue was eventually taken up by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on SEZs in their last meeting on August 7. However, having failed to resolve the issue itself, the EGoM, chaired by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, forwarded the case to the law ministry asking for its view on the legal interpretation of ‘vacant land’. According to official sources, the law ministry has now responded saying that as long as no third party can lay claim to the land acquired by the developer or any man-made structure present on it, it may be treated as vacant.