Amid reports and wide opposition from the locals regarding the sale of Syngenta India Limited to a chemical handling firm, Industries Minister Mahadev Naik has clarified that the company doesn’t require permission from the Industries Department as the property does not fall within any industrial estate.
Stating that there is no proposal before them to transfer the ownership of the Syngenta India Ltd unit to Deccan Fine Chemical, Naik said the new firm would have to comply with the regulations of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), thereby ensuring the safety of human life in its vicinity.
“Any change in process of production requires the permission of the GSPCB. There is no permission required from Industries Department as the property does not fall within an industrial estate. There is no proposal of any sort by Syngenta submitted to us,” Naik said.
The Minister, however, assured that the government will take all necessary precautions to ensure that no hazardous industry in the area is allowed and all the decisions in that regard would be taken in accordance with law.
“The government is yet to receive any such transfer of ownership proposal and so also the other concerned authorities, including the panchayat, are required to examine and decide such proposals in accordance with the law,” he said.
The State government had in 1969 handed over 7.50lakh sq mtrs of area to CIBA, with a condition that if the unit does not want to continue the same land should be handed over
to government.
