The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the government would not undertake referendum for land acquisition in SEZs and other mega projects. It is recalled that the state government had carried out referendum process for 22 villages under the Maha Mumbai SEZ to address the grievances of local farm community. 

A SEZ had to set up in 10,000 hectares land by the promoters of Maha Mumbai and Reliance Industries Ltd in Raigad district. The collector of Raigad district has yet to submit his final report on referendum.

The chief minister said that the state already has a land acquisition policy and land would be acquired according to this policy in future. The state has appointed a new committee to set up a Dow Chemicals R & D lab near Chakan, Pune. Dow Chemicals International Pvt Ltd had signed a MoU with the State Government in October 2007. The local residents are opposing the project on pollution grounds. 

The chief minister said that many European companies are interested in the state and state is expected to get Rs 2,000 crore investment from these companies. He visited many European countries during his weeklong Europe tour. Eight European companies signed MoUs with the state government for various projects.