Undaunted by criticism by a Parliamentary panel, the government cleared 28 fresh special economic zone proposals on Thursday, including the Navi Mumbai promoted by Reliance Industries [Get Quote] Chairman Mukesh Ambani, taking the total number of approvals to over 500.

The board of approvals gave formal approvals to 21 special economic zone proposals and seven 'in-principle' cases.

The Navi Mumbai SEZ proposal of Ambani and his close aide Anand Jain was finally given the nod after the Centre received a green signal from the Maharashtra government.

The multi-product Navi Mumbai SEZ has been cleared with the condition that promoters should build, within a year, the infrastructure that would ensure contiguity on the 1,250 hectare land where it is coming up in Maharashtra, Commerce Secretary and Chairman of BoA G K Pillai said.

The Special Purpose Vehicle that is building the SEZ has also been prevented from allowing any unit to come up in the zone before underpasses and over bridges are constructed for meeting contiguity requirements, he said.

The Navi Mumbai SEZ proposal had been deferred twice by the BoA on issues of contiguity and rights of villages in the vicinity of the zone. Thursday's clearance came after all the issues were addressed.

The state government was asked to give its views on the report of Revenue Department, which raised issues that included rights of the villagers in the area.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, had asked the government last week to put a freeze on fresh notifications until the SEZ Act and the rules were changed.

The committee observed that the government was showing 'undue haste' in clearing SEZs, ignoring interests of farmers and other stakeholders.

Photograph: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

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