The commerce ministry now wants the Bengal government to lift the veil on the new location of the chemical SEZ before a decision can be taken on whether NKID should be granted more time to complete land acquisition for this venture.

"NKID has made an application for extension of their Haldia (multi-product SEZ) project and for extension and shifting of their Nandigram chemical SEZ to another location (not specified). Both applications were made before the expiry of the in-principle approvals earlier granted."

"In this context, certain clarifications regarding proposed new location etc have been sought from the West Bengal government," the ministry told The Times of India in an e-mail while replying to a questionnaire addressed to commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath.

As per norms laid down by the Board of Approvals (BoA), NKID had to complete acquisition of 12,500 acre for a multi-product SEZ at Haldia and 10,000 acre for its chemical SEZ within September 5. Both NKID ventures had received in-principle SEZ sanction from the BoA on October 6, 2006. The BoA, headed by commerce secretary G K Pillai, is the final deciding authority on SEZs.

"It is completely the BoA's prerogative on whether NKID should be granted an extension. We don't have much to say on the issue," Bengal commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said in response to the commerce ministry's e-mail. However, he did not disclose whether the state has already communicated the name of the new location of the chemical SEZ to the Centre.

The state government, incidentally, has a direct interest in the fate of the chemical SEZ and multi-product SEZ at Haldia since West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) is a part of the NKID. Sen is also WBIDC vicechairman.