The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department’s announcement of suspending all actions relating to the proposal of establishing a Petrochemical Cluster in Tamil Nadu was hailed by the Thamizhaga All Farmers Organisations Coordination Committee (TAFOCC).
In a statement issued here on November 15, the Committee president, P. R. Pandian has said that recently the Narimanam Oil Refinery in Nagapattinam district had obtained clearance from the Central Government for its expansion project.
As a fall out of this, the MSME Trade and Investment Promotion Bureau of the Department decided to establish a Petrochemical Cluster at Thirumarugal block in Nagapattinam district and called for a ‘request for proposal’ for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) in October this year.
Shocked by the Department’s move, farmers registered their objections with the District Administration and also decided to stage protest demonstrations under the aegis of the TAFOCC during this month.
At this juncture, the Department has announced that the ₹50 lakh tender invite for preparing the DPR has been withdrawn and all the actions relating to the proposal for establishing the Petrochemical Cluster taken already were suspended/cancelled/withdrawn, he said and thanked the Department for responding positively to the farmers' plea to retain Delta as a protected special agriculture zone.
