The ‘Make in India’ drive by the Indian Government took a hit when the Maruti Suzuki facility was not permitted to operate their construction work. The facility was set up in Rohtak and was supposed to be he hub for developing and testing of cars for India as well as the rest of the world. This would have been the first such facility outside Japan by Suzuki Motor, the parent organisation. However, the Government of Haryana has forced Maruti Suzuki to abandon their work at this Rohtak facility.
The automobile manufacturer had invested approximately 3500 crore INR in this Research and Development project and was expected to start functioning from 2015. The state government has forced a ban on its construction and issued an on-hold order. This was because the company had not obtained an environmental clearance and started the construction work. The government has also appealed Delhi High Court’s verdict, which had asked the government not to take any action against Maruti Suzuki. The matter is pending at court; however, the nation’s biggest car manufacturer has stopped the construction work.
This comes because of a policy passed by Jayanthi Natarajan, the environment and forest minister in the Congress regime. According to this policy, any building, which is supposed to be built over and area of 20000 square metres would have to seek an environmental clearance report. This has delayed the entire process of making such factories.
When asked about this matter, the official of a top automobile firm said, “This essentially means that even a medium-size unit being built over six acres of land needs a prior environmental clearance before commencing construction. This introduces an additional delay of at least 18 months for investments to fructify into production and has turned into a big deterrent for investors already saddled by tardy land acquisition processes and the range of other local and environmental clearances needed to start business." The court has not yet issued a final judgement on this order.
