Question

The first ever public hearing in India, almost like a referendum, on the fate of SEZ was held during the month of September 2008 in / at ___

• A. Verna IT/ ITeS SEZ in Goa
• B. Haryana for Reliance Haryana SEZ
• C. Pen, Maharashtra
• D. POSCO India, Steel SEZ Phase II, Orissa

Hint:

The project involved was the Maha Mumbai SEZ, and the hearing took place in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question describes a public hearing in September 2008 that became so heated with farmer participation that it functioned almost like a local referendum on whether a Special Economic Zone should be built at all.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Match the description to the SEZ project that was drawing the biggest land acquisition protests around that time, since the scale of opposition is the clue pointing to the right location.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone, planned with Reliance's backing, needed thousands of acres of farmland spread across villages in Raigad district, Maharashtra.
Farmers who stood to lose their land organised heavily, and when the mandatory environmental public hearing was held at Pen in September 2008, the turnout and the intensity of objections were so large that the event effectively became a verdict against the project rather than a routine consultation.
The Goa SEZ, the Haryana SEZ, and the POSCO project in Orissa were all separately controversial, but none of them hosted this specific first of its kind referendum style hearing in September 2008.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The hearing took place at Pen in Raigad district, Maharashtra, so the correct option is Pen, Maharashtra.