A day after the allotment of “free land” to former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s M/s Ceylon Beverage sparked controversy in Jammu and Kashmir, it was revealed that the company has pulled out from an over Rs 1,650 crore investment in Kathua.
The withdrawal was due to the expiration of incentives under the 2021 National Sector Industrial Policy, which ended in September last year. On Saturday, opposition lawmakers in the J&K Assembly raised concerns over the 26-acre land allotment for Muralitharan’s beverage company in Kathua, questioning why land was given “free of cost” to outsiders when locals were denied land for housing under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY).
CPM legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami alleged that norms had been violated, saying, “this is what I am talking about.”
“Land has to be allotted as per the laid norms to any person whosoever apply for land for commercial purposes,” he said and alleged that no money had been charged from the cricketer’s company for the allotment.
It has also come to fore that Ceylon Beverage only a day before (March 6) has applied for backing out from the project and “will now be installing the bottling and can manufacturing plant at Pune.”
