The whole delay is at their end,' an official of the state agency in Gurgaon told IANS, requesting anonymity.

After the central government capped all special economic zone projects to 12,000 acres two years ago, the Reliance project in the state got stuck in the slow lane. The global economic meltdown in early 2008 further put the project in limbo, the official added.

Former member of parliament and Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, also the younger son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, had been critical of the Reliance project right from the beginning - even claiming that the company was not serious about the project.

Sources in the Haryana government said Reliance had been able to acquire only over 1,200 acres of land near Garhi Harasu village, the site of the project. The state agency has transferred some 330 acres for the project as its share.

But Reliance is facing problems in acquiring additional land owing to high prices and opposition from a section of farmers around Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts of Haryana where the project has been slotted.

Hooda, however, said his government was offering the highest land acquisition prices in the country to farmers so that they are not only satisfied but make adequate monetary gain for parting with their immovable asset.

The project was to create nearly 500,000 direct and indirect jobs. However, the economic slowdown last year forced Reliance to terminate the services of the people hired for the project, officials said.

The multi-product zone has provisions for a cargo airport and a 2,000-MW power plant and Reliance was to rope in some global players, including some Fortune-500 companies, for the project.

The project was to also to have companies in fields of nano-technology, bio-technology and agro-industries to set up their facilities.