A meeting of the empowered group of ministers on SEZs, which was scheduled in New Delhi for Monday to review the 5,000 hectare land ceiling on the tax-free zones, has been cancelled.

The meeting of the eGoM, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee [ Images ], was believed to have on its agenda the proposal to review the land ceiling that was imposed last year in the wake of widespread protests over land acquisition.

A commerce ministry spokesperson cited no reason for the cancellation of the meeting.

The 5,000 hectare threshold had come as a setback to the mega SEZs plans of Reliance Industries [ Get Quote ], DLF, Adani, Omaxe and Ascendas, which wanted to set up multi-product SEZs with in-house infrastructure facilities like ports.

Other issues which could have figured in the discussions included the inter-ministerial differences on tax benefits to developers of the SEZs.

The government has so far notified 193 SEZs and given formal approval to 404 zones.

India's great rush for SEZs