GIDC needs time to reply

Hearing adjourned as GIDC seeks time to file reply
HERALD REPORTERPANJIM, JULY 18 –
Hearing on the writ pleas filed by the villagers of Sancoale, Verna and Keri-Ponda was today adjourned till September 8 as the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) sought time to file its reply.
The villagers through three different writ petitions, filed before the Bombay High Court at Goa last week, have challenged the land allotment to developers of the Special Economic Zone (SEZs) in the State. The allotment of land has been challenged on grounds that GIDC transferred the land in gross violation of law and transactions were executed in “most high-handed manner”.
Allotment was made without putting up an advertisement or calling for tenders or auctioning the land to the highest bidder, the petitioners alleged. Hearing on petitions of Meditab Specialities Pvt Ltd, and K Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd, was also adjourned for September 8. Both SEZ developers are before the Court over show cause notices issued by GIDC threatening to revoke lease deeds and take back the land by refunding the premium, interest and leased rent paid.
The High Court had granted temporary relief in the form of status quo on the show cause notices issued to K Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd. K Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd, was the first to move Court with respect to show cause notice issued by GIDC.

Knowledge SEZs ?

• EPZ, STZ, IT Park, Biotech Park, Food Park and now KNOWLEDGE SEZs???
  SEZs by any name are a mega land grab for real estate with the Government clearing the title of the land.
• SEZs are “a country within a country” (Govt definition) and outside the purview of the laws of the land.
• Even the argument of economic growth is a colossal con as the SEZs need to show only net profit.
• After all what has happened with the fraud of SEZs in Goa, anyone who supports SEZs in Goa is an obvious partner in crime against our motherland.
  
  In response to the following news:
  Willy, Khalap, Nitin favour knowledge cities
  NT NETWORK
  PANAJI The deputy chairman of the State Planning Board, Dr Wilfred de Sousa on Friday welcomed the recommendation of a sub-committee on knowledge economy constituted by the State Planning Board under the chairmanship of the noted Goan economist, Dr V A Pai Panandiker as regards setting up of ˜knowledge cities or knowledge industrial parks in Goa.
  The sub-committee, in its report, had used the terminology educational SEZs or knowledge SEZs for the knowledge cities or knowledge industrial parks.
  Speaking to The Navhind Times, Dr de Sousa said that such educational centres of excellence, providing advanced education, would definitely help the local students, a great deal. It a very good idea, he added.
  The former deputy chairman of the State Planning Board, Mr Ramakant Khalap, told this daily that although the report of the Dr Panandiker sub-committee came to him during his tenure as the Planning Board deputy, no discussion took place on the same due to various factors including short term of the then government.
  In fact, the recommendation of the report to set up educational SEZs or knowledge SEZs in Goa is very good, except the terminology used, now that the special economic zones have attracted controversy around them, Mr Khalap said, adding, the welcome concept suggested in the report should have stuck to the terminology knowledge cities or knowledge industrial parks, instead of the SEZs.
  It is a fact that the state is missing on so many things as far as education is concerned, including intellect, content and to some extent specialised faculty, Mr Khalap said, adding, The modern-day education, especially in advanced fields of science, is virtually galloping, while we have no facilities to train our local students in them.
  However, the government should first approach the people and discuss with them modalities of setting up such educational cities, followed by debates in the House over this issue, as suggested in the report, he observed.
  The former Planning Board deputy also noted that knowledge cities or knowledge industrial parks should not degenerate into real estate business, or commercial ventures like educational malls, which demand high academic fees, exorbitant capitation fees or donations.
  The government should strictly supervise such projects, he suggested.
  Welcoming the concept of knowledge cities or knowledge industrial parks, the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, Mr Nitin Kuncolienkar said the terms educational SEZ or knowledge SEZ are seen in bad taste due to the mishandling of the entire SEZ issue by the government.
  Stating that the government should now go for an alternate model for the development of Goa, the GCCI chief said that non-polluting knowledge industry is the best option as it can not only develop skill-based industry but also train the locals in advanced education, which would be very helpful in generation of jobs.
  Or else, a situation wherein the state will face an economic disaster in next 5 years, is inevitable, he added, pointing out that the trends, in this direction, have started showing.
  

NDTV exposes Goa SEZ fraud

Goa SEZ papers indicate rule violations
Ketki Angre
Sunday, July 13, 2008 (Goa)

The Goa government recently scrapped seven SEZs that were coming up in the state, reportedly because of violations in the way they were allotted in the first place.

The government says that this was in response to large scale public protests, fearing the SEZ's would burden the infrastructure without generating jobs for locals.

But Documents obtained by activists using the Right to Information found that there were violations in how these SEZ's were allotted.

The SEZs were cleared by the previous Goa Government under CM Pratapsinh Rane, which sanctioned the SEZs in two separate meetings.In one batch , nearly 400 acres of land were given to 4 SEZs in Verna in South Goa. The Ashok Piramal Group's Planetview Mercantile Private Ltd, Piramal's Inox Mercantile Private Ltd, K Raheja Corporation Limited, one of Mumbai's biggest construction firms and K Raheja's Paradigm Logistics And Solutions Private Ltd.

But documents obtained under RTI from the Goa Industrial Development Corporation and the directorate of industries find that all four SEZ applications were technically incomplete.

The company seal on documents were missing and the crucial bank finance guarantee was missing. The Goa government meeting in which the four SEZs were sanctioned didn't even have the mandatory quorum, which makes all its decisions null and void.

A glaring flaw in the document was that Planetview Mercantile Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Ashok Piramal Group, did not even exist when it was sanctioned nearly 25 acres of land. The company was formed a week after its request for land was cleared.Clearances which experts agree are suspect. Suhail Nathani, partner, Economic Laws Practice said, ''A meeting held without quorum is not valid. And an application made by a non existant company/ entity is just what it suggests .. That it is not a valid application because the body corporate, which is the applicant did not exist on that particular day.''

But the Goa Industrial Development Corporation insists the clearances were in order. Nitin Kunkolienkar, director, Goa Industrial Development Corporation said, ''There's absolute quorum, it was perfectly right, no one has understood the provision of the Act. The quorum requirement is four people, so the entire quorum was present at the meeting and the meeting was totally legal. It is beyond doubt. Whether the company existed or not is not our lookout. We follow the meeting agenda.''

This in spite of the Act stating that the Director of Industries is needed to reach quorum when only four members are present.

When contacted, the Piramal group in an emailed statement said: ''When the application was made, the company was under formation. It is clearly mentioned accordingly in the application form. As a result, the application form did not have its company seal. As regards the bank finance guarantee, there was no requirement in the application form. Moreover, the land allotment was done based on the skills and credentials of Peninsula and not depending upon the SPV in isolation.''

Interestingly, nowhere in the application form is it mentioned that Planetview Mercantile is a Piramal subsidiary or was under formation and the GIDC website clearly says that a letter from the bank/financial institution agreeing to finance the project is needed to be eligible.

In spite of repeated attempts the K Raheja Corporation did not respond to these allegations.

Family connections

In allocation of another 300 acres of land in Ponda in central Goa, there is evidence of further violations. Cipla's subsidiary, Meditab Specialities Private Limited, which was given an SEZ here didn't even make a formal application for an SEZ.

Only on the basis of a request letter it was sanctioned nearly 300 acres for a pharmaceutical SEZ on the direction of the then Industries Minister. The law does say that the corporation is bound to follow directives from the government but this is only in the area of policy directives.

The corporation claims this means all government directives need to be followed. Nitin Kunkolienkar, director, Goa Industrial Development Corporation said, ''You see particular Cipla case, it was referred by the govt. and including the CM's office, industries' minister's office and then the CS has referred it. The Goa-IDC was asked to process that.''

Experts says whatever the directives from the state, the corporation should also have followed the official procedures. This includes insisting on a formal application. ''There is a procedure that needs to be followed and there is no provision in the law to compromise the process. While the decision maybe dictated, that's something the act does provide, but certainly there is no provision for doing away with the process, so to my mind they would have to follow process,'' Nathani said.

But when contacted, Pharma giant CIPLA has said procedures were followed and the allegations are baseless.

Of the seven SEZs that the Goa government subsequently scrapped, three were promoted by the Piramal Group the signatory on its documents is Amish Yoddha.

But interestingly Yoddha is the son-in-law of AV Palekar the Managing Director of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation. The Goa government body that allocated the lands, a deal which some say raises serious questions of conflict of interest.

But the Piramal Group in its statement says: ''There is no conflict of interest. Amish Yoddha was authorised to represent the company vide a valid Board Resolution. The land allotment took place much before his wedding with daughter of Mr A V Palekar and there is no connection between the two events. The Deed of lease was executed on August 2, 2006 whereas the wedding took place on January 29, 2008.''

Former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane in whose tenure the SEZs were santioned refused to comment, saying the matter of SEZ clearances was now in court

Goa's chief minister Digambar Kamat who subsequently scrapped the SEZs said his government stand was clear - it did not want SEZs anymore.

But the question on how they were allotted will still stand.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080056846&ch=7

Villagers challenge SEZ land allotment

HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JULY 9 — Villagers of Sancoale, Verna, and Keri-Ponda through three separate writ petitions filed before the Bombay High Court at Goa, have challenged the allotment of land to SEZ developers in the State.
The villagers have challenged the allotment of land on grounds that Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has transferred the land in gross violation of law and in most high-handed manner. Allotment was made even without putting up an advertisement or calling for tenders or auctioning the land to the highest bidder, the petitioners alleged.
Furthermore, the GIDC is accused of making the allotments of land in total violation of the provisions of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 as well as State’s own SEZ policy.
The petitioners have challenged the land allotment made to M/s Peninsular Pharma Research Center Pvt Ltd, which has acquired land to set up SEZ in Sancoale, M/s Meditab Specialities Pvt Ltd in Keri Ponda and M/s K Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd, M/s Paradigm Logistic and Distribution Pvt Ltd, M/s Inox Mercantile Co Pvt Ltd, M/s Planet View Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Maxgrow Finlease Pvt Ltd, who want to have SEZs in Verna Industrial Estate.
They have prayed for an order quashing the land allotment in the industrial estate and revert it to the original owners from whom the land was acquired.
Petitioners also want that the entire process of allotment enquired into by an independent body like the CBI or have a commission of inquiry headed either by a High Court or a Supreme Court Judge to look into the irregularities in the entire allotment procedure including the possibility of irregular graft.
The petitions have been posted for hearing on July 18.

Goa villagers petition against SEZ land allotment
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/03101220.htm
PANAJI: Goa villagers have approached the Goa bench of Bombay High Courtappealing against the Special Economic Zones(SEZs) land allotment byState government-run Goa Industrial Development Corporation(GIDC). The villagers, in their petition before the court, have termed the landallotment as "fraudulent". The villagers from Keri, Sancoale and Verna, have filed a petitionchallenging GIDC's decision to allot land to these SEZs in theirvillages, on 95-year-lease basis. The petition mostly concerns three notified SEZs -- Meditab SpecialitiesPvt Ltd, K Raheja and Peninsula Pharma Research Pvt Ltd. The petition has also questioned land allotment in seven SEZs includingthese three. The villagers have complained that the land was allottedwithout involving public in the land allotment process. "In some case, the land was allotted as quick as within seven days ofthe application," Colin Gonsalves, a lawyer representing the villagers,said. GIDC which faced severe criticism for allotment of the land, has alreadyissued showcause notice to all the seven SEZ promoters. GIDC officials said that they have decided to revoke the land allotmentacting on the directives of the government. "We have issued showcause notices and final step to revoke the land willbe decided after the meet by board of directors" a senior official said.Also, SEZ issue is a hotly debated issue in the state with DigamerKamat-led government taking anti-SEZ stand bowing to the pressures ofthe masses. - PTI

Centre sets conditions, will denotify SEZs

Under pressure from Goa to scrap SEZs,
Centre sets conditions: compensate developers, will denotify
JAYANT SINGH, Indian Express
NEW DELHI, JULY 6:
Yielding to Goa’s insistence on cancelling all special economic zones (SEZs), the Commerce and Industry ministry has finally said it could denotify the SEZs if the state seized the land allotted to developers and returned their money along with interest and compensated them for investment already made on the ground.
According to officials in the Department of Commerce, the Centre would then be able to denotify these SEZs since they would not have any land to execute the projects. Six developers have so far paid two of the three instalments amounting to Rs 280 crore to the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) for about 600 acres allotted to them. They have made investments of about Rs 500 crore over and above this.
Three of these six SEZs — K Raheja Corporation, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and Meditab Specialities — are notified under the SEZ Act 2005 and the Goa government has been repeatedly asking the Centre to denotify them due to political opposition to SEZs in the state.
At a meeting of the Board of Approval for SEZs on June 4, the Centre had made it clear that it was not possible to denotify the three SEZs since there was no provision to do so under the SEZ Act. But now, the Centre has given up. Officials in the Commerce department, however, said Goa refused to compensate the developers and was yet to initiate talks with them.
There have been widespread protests in Goa against the setting up of SEZs over the past year by villagers and activists which led the state government to cancel all approved SEZs and recommend denotification of the rest by the Central government. This has left SEZ promoters in Goa hanging in mid-air.
The GIDC had started accepting applications for setting up SEZs in 2006 and had eventually leased this land — a total of 600 acres of industrial estate — to six companies for SEZs. This land was acquired by GIDC way back in 2001. Apart from the three notified SEZs, the others, which had cleared the approval stage, are Inox Mercantile Co Pvt Ltd, Paradigm Logistics Distribution Pvt Ltd, Planetview Mercantile Company Pvt Ltd, and Maxgrow Finlease Pvt Ltd.

SVM Resolutions of 6 July

Resolutions adopted at SVM public meeting held on 6th July, 08 at Colva Parish Hall:
1) Disband GIDC and initiate time bound CBI inquiry into the SEZ scam.
2) Suspend all officials involved in approving of the plan subsequent to government’s order to scrap all notified SEZs and stop work order being issued to notified SEZs.
3) Re-amend the Industrial Act by de-notifying the notified areas and bringing back the jurisdiction of industrial areas under the authority of the Village Panchayats.
4) Government to direct Water Resources Dept. to cap all bore wells in all industrial areas in Goa and initiate action against the violators.
5) SEZ promoters should not be compensated by the Government. On the contrary the promoters should be penalised for permanently and severely damaging the ecology of the villages and such compensation should be paid to the respective affected villages.
6) Suspend top police officials who are still refusing to register the criminal complaint filed by villagers on 22nd October 07
7) Scrap SEZ policy and issue of show cause notice to the delinquent employee in view of the withdrawal of the case by the State Govt.

Colva meet renews demand for scrapping SEZ policy

BY HERALD REPORTER
Serves deadline for disbanding GIDC

MARGAO, JULY 6 – Sending a message loud and clear to the government that the people will not keep quiet any longer, the SEZ Virodhi Manch has renewed its demand for the scrapping of the SEZ policy and served a deadline of July 31 to disband Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and initiation of time-bound inquiry through the Central Bureau of Investigations. At an impressive meeting held at the Colva Church hall on Sunday morning, the Manch demanded suspension of all officials involved in approving of the plan subsequent to government’s order to scrap all notified SEZs.

A resolution was also adopted demanding re-amendment of the Industrial policy by de-notifying the notified areas and bringing back the jurisdiction of industrial areas under the authority of the village panchayats. The meeting asked the government to direct Water Resources Department to cap all bore wells in all industrial areas in Goa.

On the question of compensation of the SEZ promoters by the government, the meeting unanimously resolved that the promoters be penalized for permanently damaging the ecology of the villages, demanding payment of compensation to the respective affected villages. A resolution was adopted to suspend top police officials, who are still refusing to register the criminal complaint filed by the villagers on October 22, 2007

Various speakers exposed the sins of omission and commission by the government authorities in the fraudulent allotment of land to the SEZ promoters and the sloppy handling of the matter by the government.

In his address, Convenor for the Council for Social Justice and Peace, Fr Maverick Fernandes came down heavily on the government for its ambivalent stand on the Special Economic Zones and for playing with the sentiments of the Goans. He said though the government had on New Year’s eve taken a clear-cut that no SEZs would be allowed in Goa, he lamented that the government is coming up with many projects in the name of development. Fr Fernandes was also critical of the opposition for not take up the fight against SEZs seriously.

In his address, social activist, Dr Francisco Colaco charged the Goa government taking the people for granted and is not taking the issue seriously. He warned that the people will not keep quite if the government does not come out clean and scrap the SEZs.

Goa Bachao Abhiyan activist Pravin Sabnis said the SEZs will spell doom for Goa and questioned the government for not scrapping the SEZ policy. Calling upon the people to be vigilant, he said the government is trying to manipulate projects in the name of development without taking the interests of locals into account.

The meeting was attended by villagers from Kerim, Betul, Quitol, Verna, Loutolim, Nagoa, Sancoale, Cortalim, who expressed their full support to the ongoing movement against SEZs.)