The Hindu : Cola plant cleared at district level: Nayanar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 08, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Cola plant cleared at district level: Nayanar

By Our Staff Reporter

PALAKKAD FEB. 7 . The former Chief Minister, E. K. Nayanar, has said the decision by Coca-Cola to set up its bottling unit at Plachimada in Chittur, Palakkad, was cleared at the district level by the Industries Department. The matter is brought up before the Cabinet only if it is a controversial project or if it affects the people and requires more than 500 acres of land.

Talking to presspersons here today, he said the agitation against the use of water by Coca-Cola had surfaced only now, although the company had been operating for the last couple of years. "The water issue had cropped up as there was drought during the current year. It is for the State Government to inquire into the problem and take a decision," he said.

Mr. Nayanar said a committee of people's representatives of the district and farmers should be formed to inquire into the company's use of ground water. A decision on closing down the factory could be taken only after examining the matter in detail. He said he was opposed to the closure of the factory if ways could be found to solve the water problem. Therefore, the State Government should come out with a decision considering all aspects of the issue.

When pointed out that another politburo member of the CPI(M), S. Ramachandran Pillai, had also demanded an inquiry into the sanction given by the Nayanar Government to Coca-Cola, he said the party's stand on the matter was made clear by the State secretary of the party, Pinarayi Vijayan, who had said that there would be no party inquiry into the LDF Government's decisions.

Regarding the allegations of tax concessions given to Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola in Palakkad, the former Chief Minister said the tax concessions were given to new industries as part of the State Government's policy to encourage investment. The former Finance Minister had issued an order to that effect and it applied to all industries irrespective of whether it was multinational or local. The matter did not come up before the Cabinet as these tax concessions were allowed in the industrial policy of the Government, Mr. Nayanar said.

He sought to justify the stand of the LDF Government to invite foreign investors to Kerala by stating that any multinational company could set up units anywhere in the country as per the industrial policy of the Central Government. Asked about his government's efforts to invite foreign investment to Kerala, the former Chief Minister said, " I am not repenting. We had invited foreign capital earlier also, and if I get a chance, I would do it again. I visited China twice and saw how foreign capital investment came to that country. These investments should be used for the development of the country and the people. If it affects the interests of the people, such investments should be discouraged,'' he said.

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Cola plant cleared at district level: Nayanar