Mahindra's plan to invest Rs 4,000 cr in TN suffers blow

C SHIVAKUMAR @ Chennai:

Some of the projects signed under Global Investors Meet are unlikely to get approvals from revenue and Public Works Department as they were proposed to be built on water bodies or meikal poromboke land, according to a official in the revenue department.

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd’s proposal to invest Rs 4,000 crore for setting up a large manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu which would roll out the company’s future models is unlikely to get the green signal.

The project is to come up at Cheyyar and Marimalai Nagar and about 22 acres of land identified is a water course. It is unlikely that clearance will be given to the project as Madras High Court recently summoned 16 district collectors of the state and had asked them not to construct anything on water bodies.

“They were also directed to clear encroachment on the water bodies and work has already begun in this regard,” said the official.

The proposal of TVS Motor plan to invest Rs 350 crore in its existing two-wheeler and three-wheeler plants in Hosur has also suffered a setback as it wants the test track facility to be built on meikkal poromboke land. "Meikkal poromboke land can't be given for commercial use," a revenue official said.

The official also said that the Rs 4,500 crore project of MRF in Perambalur lacks approval. The existing buildings of MRF are not approved.

It is learnt that MRF has encroached the poromboke Odai and the issue is yet to be resolved by the government.  

“The courts have been strict after the December 2015 floods. Revenue Department or Public Works Department would not like to stand before the Court and give an explanation. The state will not allow water bodies to be converted into industries,” a top official said.

Officials said the courts are also questioning the government on how it accorded permission for construction in Pallikaranai Marshland, including the Central government’s National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). "The government is not against development but development should not be done at the cost of nature," the official added.

It is learnt that government won’t be bending its rules when it comes to protecting water bodies and that too not for the sake of having industries on water bodies after repeated raps from the courts, the official added.