Team Herald
PANJIM: The State cabinet on Wednesday decided to e-auction 5 lakh square metres of repossessed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) land at Verna Industrial Estate, and constituted a committee to monitor the e-auction process. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant announced this after the cabinet meeting.
The six-member committee will be headed by the Secretary (Industries) and will comprise additional secretary (Finance), under secretary (Industries), Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce and Director of Public-Private Partnership (PP) as members. The managing director of Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) will be the member secretary.
In January 2008, the then Digambar Kamat-led government had withdrawn the SEZs in the State and recommended to the Union Ministry of Commerce, Government of India to denotify the seven SEZ units.
Land had been allotted to seven SEZ developers at Verna Industrial Estate; Sancoale and Bhutkhamb-Keri in Ponda taluka. The total land allotted to the SEZ promoters was over 38.40 lakh square metres. The maximum 24.05 square metres of land was allotted to SEZ parties in the Verna Industrial Estate. Of this five lakh square metres of land will now be e-auctioned though the National Informatics Centre (NIC) platform.
The cabinet also decided to allot land admeasuring 750 square metres belonging to the Sanjivani Sugar Factory at Dharbandora to the Public Works Department (PWD) for the construction of 800 cubic metres capacity ground level reservoir.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to promulgate an Ordinance to amend the Goa Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act, 2017.
