New Delhi, Aug 11 - The government Tuesday allowed the cash-strapped Maytas Properties to surrender its biotech special economic zone (SEZ), known as Maytas Ventures.

The Board of Approval (BoA), under the commerce ministry, also asked Maytas to refund Rs.31 lakh, which was offered to the company as service tax exemption.

The Hyderabad-based company, promoted by the family of B. Ramalinga Raju, the disgraced former chairman of the scam-hit Satyam Computers, had earlier asked the government to 'denotify' the project due to weak market conditions.

The project is located near Hyderabad.

The board, however, deferred a decision on the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Haryana SEZ's request for more time to complete the project. The authorities have already given two extensions to the Reliance project, being developed in Gurgaon.

The board has also cleared three new proposals, including the Brooke Bond real estates IT enclave in Karnataka.

The BoA meeting was headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar.