CHENNAI: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles has won a fresh recommendation for environmental clearance to expand its Oragadam plant, after a state expert appraisal committee resolved two disputes that had stalled the proposal for more than a year.
This comes in the wake of the BharatBenz maker deepening its bet on Tamil Nadu with a fresh Rs 4,000 crore investment commitment to the state government - taking its cumulative investment in India past Rs 14,500 crore
The State Expert Appraisal Committee-I (SEAC-I), meeting on August 6, reaffirmed a recommendation it first made in June, clearing the way for Daimler to expand built-up area at its SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre site in Oragadam and Sennakuppam villages, in Kancheepuram district.
The company’s leasehold there spans 389.93 acres, held under a registered lease with the state industrial promotion agency SIPCOT. Built-up area will grow by 17,491 sq m, taking the total to 532,699.55 square metres.
The first dispute centred on a 24.50-acre parcel occupied by Samvardhana Motherson Stamping and Assemblies, a components maker sub-leased land by Daimler.
Though the two companies hold separate pollution-control consents, their production is closely integrated, prompting the committee to query why Motherson’s land featured in Daimler’s application.
Daimler pointed to its original 2012 lease with SIPCOT, arguing the entire leasehold had always been treated as a single project footprint. The committee accepted this and agreed to consider both companies’ survey numbers together.
A thornier issue arose when the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, reviewing the case in July, sent it back to establish whether Daimler had built more than 20,000 square metres during a window when Union Environment Ministry rules exempt industrial sheds from clearance requirements.
Daimler said the disputed shed was constructed in 2010, before a December 2014 clarification first brought industrial sheds under assessment rules. The committee agreed, concluding the construction predated any explicit requirement and fell outside the notification’s reach.
With both objections resolved, SEAC-I voted to reiterate its recommendation for clearance, subject to earlier conditions. The file now returns to SEIAA for final sign-off.
When contacted, DICV told TNIE, “DICV’s proposed Oragadam expansion strengthens research and develoopment, operational flow and employee facilities. The clearance application meets applicable regulatory requirements for the defined project area.
Supplier operations on-site are governed by their own statutory approvals and incorporated into DICV’s EIA assessment as an overall project. Our Consent to Operate renewal is a routine, unrelated administrative matter.”
