G.O.(Ms) No.113, Permission under section 37-A for M/s. KCP Sugar & Industries Corporation Limited, 2024

Purpose and scope

G.O.(Ms) No.113 dated 14 March 2024, issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Land Reforms Wing, considers permission under section 37-A of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961. The applicant is M/s. KCP Sugar & Industries Corporation Limited, and the land is in Elavalapakkam Village, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District.

The company applied to hold 65.43 acres for establishing a Citronella Oil Unit. Its stated activities also include sugar and allied product manufacturing, sugarcane processing and a sugarcane or tissue culture research station.

Land and ceiling calculation

The annexure-based calculation used for the recommendation states:

• Total land held and applied for: 65.43 ordinary acres, equivalent to 36.310 standard acres.
• Retainable area within the ceiling limit: 33.07 ordinary acres, equivalent to 14.930 standard acres.
• Area recommended for permission under section 37-A: 32.36 ordinary acres, equivalent to 21.380 standard acres.
• Land classification reported: 42.47 acres of wet land and 22.96 acres of dry land.

One earlier committee observation refers to 65.05 acres, while the annexures, calculations and final recommendation use 65.43 acres.

Findings about use of the land

The Industrial Exemption Committee recorded that no industrial activity had started. The reported land use included 11.16 acres of mango grove, 7.18 acres of citronella grass, 20.63 acres of palm trees, 7.92 acres of coconut grove, buildings and a godown, with 13.53 acres shown as vacant.

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Land Reforms Wing, noted that only 7.18 acres had been planted with citronella grass and that details of a processing unit were not provided. The records also mention high tension and low tension electricity lines crossing parts of the company land, and no reserve forest within a two kilometre radius.

Recommendation and conditions

The Industrial Exemption Committee recommended permission for M/s. KCP Sugar & Industries Corporation Limited to hold 32.36 ordinary acres above the ceiling limit, subject to these conditions:

• The company must establish a processing unit and use the entire land for its stated purposes within one year.
• The company must obtain a No Objection Certificate from the District Collector for wet lands because the project involves industrial activity.

Who is affected

G.O.(Ms) No.113 concerns the named company and the specified land in Elavalapakkam Village. A person examining these lands should note the division between the retainable area and the area recommended for section 37-A permission, together with the conditions attached to the proposed industrial use.