Special Correspondent Group of Ministers recommends private players buy 70% of land at market rates CHENNAI: Land acquisition for Special Economic Zones could soon be regulated, with an Empowered Group of Ministers recommending that private players buy 70 per cent of the land at the prevailing market prices and the government acquire the rest, according to R. Gopalan, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Commerce. There is also a suggestion that a cap be placed on prime agricultural land bought for the SEZs. This will be in addition to the Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Policy that will help farmers find alternative employment and sustainable livelihood, he said. The idea of fair valuation could be passed by the winter session of Parliament, along with the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, which is before a Standing Committee, he said. A single window system of clearance for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developers through the Development Commissioner may also be provided soon, Mr. Gopalan said. Fiscal incentives to the SEZs, land ceiling and other rules are also set to stay after a meeting of the Group of Ministers on Thursday decided to retain the current rules for SEZs, Mr. Gopalan said. Single window clearance B. Vijayan, Development Commissioner, MEPZ-SEZ, said Tamil Nadu could take the lead in providing a single window clearance system for SEZs. Work on finding a simple solution to the problems of SEZ developers was under way and Tamil Nadu boasted of one of the best records in speedy rollout of SEZs. Speaking to presspersons after presenting awards for best performance by SEZs and Export-Oriented Units (EOU) at a function organised by the Madras Export Processing Zone-SEZ (MEPZ-SEZ) in Chennai, Mr. Gopalan said SEZs were the key to increasing India's share of global trade. Asked about the possibilities of SEZs hitting the domestic industry, Mr. Gopalan said the rules were drawn up in such a manner that exports from SEZs were the more profitable. While SEZ units had a head start in imports and infrastructure, they had to pay the same taxes for domestic sales. The employment and trade benefits of SEZs far outweighed the problems posed by them, he said. Direct employment had been provided to nearly 2.5 lakh people by the new SEZs, and indirect employment would be far greater. To develop SEZs further, he said, focus should be on skills development, and units producing hardware components and semiconductors were the future. Skilled persons working in these industries would give India the necessary competitiveness and solve the huge unemployment problem in the country. Tamil Nadu IT Secretary C. Chandramouli said the Industries Department was working on providing a single-window system for IT and ITeS SEZs. The State's IT Policy adopted a focused approach to solving issues in the IT industry across all levels, he said.