PANAJI
Finally, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) will begin dispensing the lakhs of square metres lying in its land bank in the wake of Goa’s failed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) saga.
GIDC Chairman, Aleixo Reginald Lourenco, said some of the SEZ land in Sancoale will be sold to Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) at the rate of Rs 4,000 per square metre.
Lourenco claimed that the GIDC will also put down conditions in the deal whereby GSL will have to hire 50 per cent Goans in the venture and also set up a skill training facility for locals.
The deal will earn the GIDC Rs 81 crore, he said.
The failed SEZ saga in Goa dates back to the mid-2000s when promoters of SEZs were allocated lakhs of square metres of land across the State which had been acquired using the now defunct and draconian land acquisition laws.
The land allocation was ruled “illegal” by the Bombay High Court, which also indicted two former chief ministers -- Pratapsing Rane and Luizinho Faleiro. The SEZs were later scrapped by the government in 2008-09.
The Goa government then opted for an out-of-court deal with the SEZ promoters to take back the land and compensate them.
