Mumbai: There is no provision for a referendum on acquisition of land for SEZs under the Land Acquisition Act and the public hearing conducted in Raigad earlier this month was only for recording suggestions and objections of the stake-holders, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has clarified.

The referendum in the 22 villages that are part of the Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Raigad district was a unique event and such a procedure would not be followed in case of any other SEZs coming up in the state, the chief minister said.

''We are waiting for the report to be submitted by the Raigad collector,'' he added.

Deshmukh said the referendum was necessitated as it was not clear that land in the 22 villages in Pen would come under irrigation after completion of the Hetwane irrigation project.

''It was the procedure of recording suggestions and objections by the land holders from the area where the SEZ is coming up. The notification issued under section 4 and section 6 of the Act was before the SEZ policy announcement and hence the case is being reconsidered for 22 villages,'' he said.

He also clarified that while the state has every right to acquire land for development purpose, it is not expected to acquire land for special economic zones.

Deshmukh also allayed fears over the Dow project, saying that it was purely for research and no involve no production. ''The project in Pune is only a research and development unit offering employment to 400 local engineers. There will be no manufacturing,'' he said. However, ''keeping in mind the sentiments of local people, we have ordered a probe by an expert committee,'' he added.

He was speaking at a press conference called to give details on investment he managed to bring in from his week-long Europe tour, which concluded on Wednesday.

He said the state has signed MoUs for investment proposals worth around Rs2,000 crore from European countries he visited recently.