PTI

New Delhi, Jul 12: Undaunted by criticism by a Parliamentary panel, the government on Thursday July 12, cleared 28 fresh SEZ proposals, including the Navi Mumbai promoted by Reliance Industries' chairman Mukesh Ambani, taking the total number of approvals to over 500.

The Board of Approvals gave formal approvals to 21 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) proposals and seven 'in-principle' cases.

The Navi Mumbai SEZ proposal of Ambani and his close aide Anand Jain was finally given the nod after the Centre received a green signal from the Maharashtra government.

The state government was asked to give its views on the report of Revenue Department, which raised issues that included rights of the villagers in the area.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, had asked the government last week to put a freeze on fresh notifications until the SEZ Act and the rules were changed.

The committee observed that the government was showing "undue haste" in clearing SEZs, ignoring interests of farmers and other stakeholders.