Barely two days after Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that the State would ban the manufacture, storage and sale of disposable plastic items starting 2019, the government triggered a controversy when it made clear its intention to set up a polymer industries park in Tiruvallur district near Chennai.
Participating in the debate on demand for grants for the Industries Department in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, DMK MLA T.R.B. Raaja questioned the government’s rationale behind proposing to set up a polymer industries park after announcing a blanket ban on plastic products. “In 2016-17, in your policy note you had mentioned setting up a polymer industries park at Tiruvallur district. What is the status of that? And now you have announced a ban on plastics, so what kind of plastics are you trying to ban,” he questioned.
₹264 crore project
According to the 2016-17 policy note of the Industries Department, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation had planned to promote a polymer industries park in 306 acres of land at Voyalur village, in Ponneri taluk of Tiruvallur district, at an estimated cost of ₹264 crore. The park will have the infrastructure required to accommodate 84 medium and small-scale plastic component manufacturing units. When fully developed, the park will be able to attract investments of about ₹2,100 crore and generate employment for 32,000 people.
AIADMK MLAs immediately countered by stating that the products produced at the park will be less harmful. State Industries Minister M.C. Sampath said, “Plastics which are not harmful will be made here (at the proposed park).”
K. Pandiarajan, Minister of Tamil Official Language and Archaeology, said that the plastic made here would be of a better quality, meeting stipulated norms.