Chemicals not FINE in Corlim

The villagers of Corlim and surrounding areas are miffed with the State government, alleging it is hand in glove with industrialists viz-a-viz the sale of the Syngenta plant at Corlim. What has upset the villagers is the recent statements by the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Industries Minister Mahadev Naik.

Parsekar recently stated that the government has no issues with the Syngenta sale if Deccan Fine chemicals, which intends to buy the company, manufactures the same product. Naik said that the area does not fall under any industrial estate and hence the government cannot interfere.

These statements have disappointed the locals, who were looking up to the government to come to their aid as they did not want another chemical company which will risk their lives. Investigations by Herald reveal that the sale deed executed on January 24, 1969, a copy of which is in possession of this paper, gives ample powers to the State to intervene in the matter.

“The purchaser doth hereby covenant with the vendor that in the event of the purchaser intending to resell the said land or any part or portion thereof which has not been developed and is lying vacant , the vendor shall have the first option to purchase back the same and the right / title and interest of the vendor hereby granted, conveyed, assigned , assigned transferred or expressed so to be on payment by the vendor to the purchaser of the said price of Rs 0.25 paise per square meter and that any re-sale by the purchaser in contravention of the provision hereinbefore contained shall be void.

PROVIDED FURTHER that the purchaser the purchaser shall have all the times hereafter the right to grant , convey, assign and transfer the said land or any part or portion thereof to any company which shall be subsidiary or an associated company of the purchaser or a company with which the purchaser shall be amalgamated for the expansion of the allied chemical industrial complex of the purchaser and such grant, conveyance, assignment and transfer shall not entitle the vendor to have any such option,” says the Clause 3 in sale deed.

Also, the CM’s statement that the government has no issues if Deccan Chemical’s manufactures the same products is questionable as Syngenta in a letter to its shareholders has clearly mentioned that there is no demand for it.

“TMX and PTC no longer enjoy patient protection and generic manufacturers are able to offer much cheaper pricing. This has impacted the capacity utilisation at the Goa facility mainly of the TMX plant, which has reduced quite significantly to 36% in FY 2014-15, resulting in idle capacity impacting financial performance of the company and value for shareholders,” says Syngenta’s letter copy of which is in possession of Herald.

Besides these issues, Baptist Pereira of Corlim Civic Forum, also questions the sale amount of Rs 340 cr as claimed by Deccan and Syngenta. “At present market rate undeveloped land is minimum Rs 1500 and if you calculate it amounts to Rs 1100 cr only for the land of 7.5 lakh sq meter and what about the factory and the equipment?” he asks.

The main grouse of the locals is the health and safety risk posed by chemical companies in the vicinity as any blast or chemical leakage will affect citizens in a 20 kilometre radius.

While Syngenta was a chemical manufacturing company, Deccan Fine Chemicals is also known to be a chemical company but has seen some accidents. Activists are expressing doubts over Deccan Fine Chemical’s ability to prevent toxic or hazardous chemicals from leaking, especially since a reactor had exploded at the Visakhapatnam plant in 2014 killing two people and injuring several others.

Pereira also criticised the government attitude towards the issue. “The land was sold by the Archdiocese of Goa to the President of India at the rate of 70 paise per Sq meter and the President of India in return sold it to Ciba @ 25 paise per sq metre,” he said.

Further, Baptist, said that Syngenta is now trying to sell the company Rs 340 crore. “The government of Goa must intervene and buy back the land as we the villagers do not want hazardous chemical factories in our villagers,” he said.

He also pointed out when Syngenta started operations there were hardly 5,000 to 10,000 people in the surrounding areas, but now the population is around 35,000 and as such, the permission cannot be allowed.

Pereira rightly questions why the State government is not exercising its powers in the interest of the Goans? “Clause 3 in the Sale deed gives the state government all the powers to buy back the land from Syngenta,” he said.

Syngenta deal with Deccan

As per the Syngenta deal, the facility of SIL at Goa, including its assets, licences and permits, assumed liabilities and employees will be transferred to Deccan Fine Chemicals on a going concern basis.

Deccan Fine Chemicals is engaged in the manufacture of chemical-based active ingredients and intermediates for agricultural chemicals, veterinary medicines and speciality chemicals.

The Indian unit of Switzerland-headquartered Syngenta AG is in the business of agrochemicals and seeds processing. Under agrochemical business, it manufactures and formulates crop protection chemicals, which are categorised as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators.

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