Mumbai, Mar 21 (PTI) The ongoing hearing for returning lands acquired from farmers for the now-scrapped Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) should be complete in three months, Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai said on Monday.

Desai, a Shiv Sena leader, made the comments while replying to a question raised by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar in the Assembly.

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The minister said the government had acquired 1,504 hectares of land in Pen, Panvel and Uran in Raigad district for the now-scrapped project.

Speaking in the Assembly, Shelar asked when the hearing would be completed.

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"The hearings at the level of the district collector should be complete in three months. If need be, we are ready to hold a meeting on the issue,” Desai said.

He said the company concerned does not seem to have any interest in implementing the project.

The land acquisition procedure for the SEZ was started in May 2006.

In September 2008, the state government conducted a referendum, in which the villagers voted against the project.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)