CHENNAI: The state government on Friday withdrew the notification issued on September 1 for the acquisition of 22.16 hectares of land at Melma village in Tiruvannamalai district for the proposed Phase-III of the Sipcot Cheyyar industrial park.
In a press statement, the managing director of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Sipcot) made the aforementioned announcement. The notification, issued under Section 3(1) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, was published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette No. 369, dated September 1. The notification covered 22.16 hectares in Unit 1, Block 2, of Melma village in Cheyyar taluk.
Spicot Managing Director said the notification, numbered VI(1)/443(d-6)/2026, was being withdrawn based on the recommendation of the Tiruvannamalai district collector.
The withdrawal relates specifically to the land identified in the notification for acquisition for the third phase of the industrial park.
The proposed acquisition of around 3,174 acres for the expansion of the Sipcot industrial park at Cheyyar had triggered a prolonged agitation by the farmers at Melma and neighbouring villages from July 2023.
The protesters demanded that the proposed acquisition be dropped, citing the loss of agricultural land. The agitation continued for more than two years, with farmers staging sit-ins and other protests and facing arrests and criminal cases.
The latest withdrawal, however, relates to a specific notification covering 22.16 hectares in Melma.