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The notification of the Mandal Becharji Special Investment Region (SIR) in the Sanand-Viramgam area of Gujarat will not affect expansion plans of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) in the state, senior government officials and MSIL Chairman R C Bhargava said today.
R C Bhargava, chairman, MSIL said, “We have fully acquired the land for both our facilities in Mehsana and Vithlapur. Work has started to construct boundary walls around the plots. We have not faced any problems from local people in the areas. Our expansion plans are on track.”
Maruti Suzuki was allotted a 700-acre plot by the Gujarat government for its third manufacturing unit near Mehsana in Gujarat in June last year. The company has planned investments of Rs 4,000 crore to make operational the facility with an initial capacity of 250,000 units by 2015-16. A similar amount is scheduled to be invested by MSIL’s vendors in the region.
Earlier this year, Maruti Suzuki additionally acquired around 700 acres of land in Vithlapur to set up its second unit in the state which would nearly double its annual production capacity to three million units on complete commissioning.
On Thursday, 36 out of 44 gram sabhas in the Mandal Becharji belt had passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the SIR notification. The farmers are worried that the entire 50,000 hectare land that has been notified as the special investment region (SIR) will be acquired for industrial use adversely affecting agriculture, animal husbandry and fodder in the area.
A senior official in the Gujarat government, however, clarified, “There is no provision for land acquisition under the SIR Act of 2009. Once an SIR is notified, basically a regional development authority is formed, which makes a master plan for infrastructure development in the area. Some part of the land is taken to make necessary infrastructure like roads etc and eventually the land owners are returned land proportionately. A farmer can decide if he wants to sell that land for industry or keep it for agriculture. There is no law that would force him to sell land if he does not wish to”, informed
He added that there will be multi-level discussions, and the farmers' fear would be allayed soon. Another state government official said, "Gujarat is an industry-friendly state, but is also pro-farmers. The government always tries to find out an amicable solution with farmers whenever it comes to land acquisition, and always tries to compensate landowners at market rates."
