Just over a fortnight after the Supreme Court stepped in and sought the status of the land lying unutilised after being acquired for special economic zones (SEZ) in six states, including Maharashtra, state industries minister Subhash Desai said that the land should be returned to its original owners.“I feel that the farmers must get back the land, which is unused as a result of faulty SEZ policy of the previous Congress and the present BJP-led government. We will have to take a formal decision soon,” said Desai told Mirror. The minister belongs to ruling-alliance partner Shiv Sena, which is currently engaged in a war of sorts with the BJP ahead of the upcoming BMC polls.Congress however refuted Desai’s charge. “Centre changed the ground rules, including several taxation rules, for SEZs and as a result, there weren’t many takers. My government worked out an exit policy but this was not followed. For now, the government must contest the SC and start industrialisation quickly,” said former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, to Mirror.Meanwhile, Desai’s view was endorsed by activists. “As per law, if the project doesn’t commence within five years, then the acquired land should be returned,” said Ulka Mahajan, coordinator of anti-globalisation committee.SC had issued notices to the Centre and six states on a PIL seeking return of unutilised land of farmers that were acquired for SEZs, and a CBI probe into the alleged diversion of loans raised by their developers.According to the PIL, over 77 per cent of notified SEZ land is concentrated in four states – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu – which had acquired 35,415 hectares of land out of 45,782 hectares of total land acquired in 20 states.There are around 118 SEZs which received formal approval in Maharashtra, out of which 65 were notified and 19 are currently operational.A total of 24,800 hectares of land was acquired for these SEZs. Only 3,059 hectares of land acquired for SEZs are currently operational while over 10,000 hectares have already been de-notified.According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), it was estimated that these SEZs will create around 4 lakh jobs but only 35,000 jobs have been created so far. Similarly, against the export estimates of Rs 55,134 crore, only Rs 13,865 crore of exports could be achieved.