NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday formally approved 23 special economic zones (SEZs) in various States, including that of the Tatas' multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur in Orissa. The Government also gave in-principle clearances to six other SEZs in different States, but a decision on the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ was deferred.

At its meeting, the Board of Approval (BoA) of SEZs did not take a decision on the multi-product Navi Mumbai SEZ following objections raised by the Revenue Department regarding the fencing of five villages and water bodies falling in the proposed zone. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has also raised its reservations on the project as upgradation of a national highway passing through the SEZ has been proposed.

Before taking any final decision on the issue, comments from the State Government and the zone's promoters would be sought on the report of the Revenue Department and other objections related to the issue, BoA Chairman and Commerce Secretary G. K. Pillai said after the meeting.

The Navi Mumbai SEZ case is likely to be taken up in the next BoA meeting, which is scheduled for June 22. A maximum number of 17 SEZs related to IT and IT-enabled services sector was approved, while one each of biotech at Vadodara in Gujarat, and gems and jewellery at Dhulia in Maharastra were also cleared.

While five IT and IT-enabled service SEZs were cleared in Maharashtra, three were given the go-ahead in Gujarat; two each in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; and one each in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.

The BoA also cleared three Uttar Pradesh Government-promoted SEZs, one each for textile, leather and engineering goods, at Kanpur, and gave in-principle approval to a carpet and handicraft SEZ at Bhadohi in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

In-principle approvals were given to two SEZs in Alwar district of Rajasthan (textile and multi-services), another couple of SEZs in Maharashtra (metal and textile) and a tourism-based SEZ at Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

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