Builders are jumping on to the SEZ bandwagon, distorting priorities Whatever their view on the benefits of Special Economic Zones (sez), most observers agree that the question of land acquisition is problematic. Land required for giant public works such as dams or for large industrial projects was not a contentious matter for several decades. Largely as a result of the agitation by those displaced by the dams on the Narmada, this has now led to greater resistance among those whose lands are being lost to industrialisation. This was evident in Singur in Bengal and agitations threaten to spread to states like Maharashtra, Haryana and others. One way to answer that is to ask the question differently. How much of the land is proposed to be acquired by developers who might see in sezs the opportunity for a windfall speculative profit rather than have a business model that relies on returns from the infrastructure built. If we take the various stages at which sezs are placed we can see the increasing roles played by builders/developers. The most pucca are the 'notified' sezs, or those that have got the final stamp of approval. Of the 47 notified sezs with a total area of 4,652 hectares (10,380 acres), just eight with an area of 145 hectares have builders/developers. In the next stage of sezs which have won 'final approval', of the 237 such sezs having an area of 35,994 hectares, 78 with an area of 2,214 hectares are by builders/developers. This changes more dramatically when we consider the 168 sezs which have got 'in principle' approval. This means the government has not yet taken a final decision and these are the permissions which can be most easily revoked. Of the 163 proposals with an area of 148,735 hectares, 57 proposals with an area of 58,160 ha. are by builders/developers. The average area of the proposals by builders has also increased dramatically from 18.1 ha. for the notified sezs to 28.4 ha. for the sezs with 'formal approval' to 1,020 ha. for those with 'in principle' approval. What these figures do not show is that the builders/developers who have 'in principle' approval have their land concentrated around large cities like Delhi or Mumbai. With the exception of Reliance with 24,377 ha. under 'in principle' approval most of the biggest applicants are builders - dlf, Emar mgf, Videocon Realty, Unitech, Sterling, Raheja and PaaRanath. With such large tracts of land involved with the potential for windfall profits it is strange that state governments are going out of their way to acquire the land instead of letting farmers negotiate the rates. If anything the states should throw their weight behind the farmers, ensuring they get the best possible deal, instead of acting as agents for the developers. Fortunately most of the land for these 'in principle' approved sezs has yet to be acquired. The policy on sezs and especially on how the land is acquired will challenge the way reform is carried forward, putting it for the first time in serious confronta