SEZs unconstitutional; legal experts
New Delhi: Special economic zones (SEZ) after getting the green signal from the group of ministers are being termed as unconstitutional by legal experts.

Articles 243 G and 243 Z (e) and Z (d) in the constitution introduced in 1992 will be stumbling blocks for the smooth passage of the SEZs despite 117 of them being cleared by the Centre.

Legal experts said the Articles require each village community to make its development plan which would be incorporated in the district plan. However, district planning committees or the State Finance Commissions are not in place in most states except in Kerala.

"Till such time as a village or district committee with specific development plans is in place, the SEZs cannot be thrust on the country," say the activists who are planning a countrywide agitation against SEZs from April 9.
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Maharashtra sugar mills cut export price
New Delhi: The Election Commission's (EC) withholding of the Centre's recently announced relief package for the sugar industry has led to sugar inventories piling up at sugar mulls. This has forced Maharashtra millers to slash their export floor price from Rs1,320 to Rs1,275 per quintal free-on-rail (FOR).

Millers say they had no option as at the Rs1,320 price, they could only bag four contracts for 37,500 tonnes, against the targeted two lakh tonnes (lt).

During the current 2006-07 season (October-September), mills in Maharashtra have contracted exports of around 5.93 lt, of which 3.16 lt have already been despatched. The millers are concerned on the arrival of the monsoon that usually hits Mumbai by June 7. As a result, the Jawarharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) authorities are not accepting bulk-break bookings beyond May 25.

Containerised exports, on the other hand, are not feasible. Hence the millers say they are really racing against time.

Besides the monsoon factor, the other reason for slashing the export price was the EC restraining the Centre from notifying its recent industry bailout plan till the last phase of elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on May 8. Maharashtra factories this season till April 4, crushed 662.77 lt of cane and produced 76.16 lt of sugar as against crushing 433.36 lt and sugar output of 50.73 lt over the corresponding period of 2005-06.
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