CHENNAI, July 10: Several foreign companies from the United Kingdom, the US, Korea, France and Japan have approached the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (Sipcot) for allotment of land at Irrungattukottai industrial park area where the Korean auto major Hyundai is putting up its car project.

A top Sipcot official denied allegations of delay in land acquisition and allotment to companies opting to locate their industrial units at the industrial park. Sipcot, it may be recalled, had proposed to acquire around 1850 acres of land at Irungattukottai so as to accommodate auto components and ancillary manufacturers.

As of now, Sipcot has acquired around 1115 acres of land at Irungattukottai and allotted 540 acres of land for the Hyundai car project. Several auto components and parts suppliers from the country and abroad want to locate their units near the Hyundai car factory with an eye on benefits in terms of savings on transportation costs, sales tax concessions, etc.

Now Sipcot is planning to acquire the balance of around 735 acres of land within the next month at Irrungattukottai. The state agency has received formal communication from 23 companies for allotment of 200 acres of land but according to the official the applications are "under process" as some of the applicants have not furnished full particulars.

Some five or six companies out of these applicants have yet to get the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) approval. Some of them need either approval from government of India or Reserve Bank of India clearance. Sipcot, the official said, usually closes the applications within 15 days of receipt of full details and makes the allotment of land.

Besides the formal applications, Sipcot has also received inquiries from 15 other companies for details on land availability. These will be processed and once the deals are concluded land would be allotted without any delay, the official said.

At Irungattukottai, Sipcot is charging Rs 12 lakh per acre and land requirements usually vary from a low of 0.5 acre to a high of even 125 acres. The policy is to allot land after ensuring that the company concerned fulfils all procedures including getting clearance from SIA (Secretariat for Industrial Approvals), providing proof of finance, details of water requirements, providing copy of latest balance sheet of the existing company, justification of extent of land required, copy of layout of land, proposed expansion of operations if any and such other details as memorandum of articles of association and project report.

The rates quoted for the land are subject to yearly review and have provisions for sudden escalations, if any.

According to Sipcot, any increase in land costs will be passed to the new allottees. Such cost escalations may be due to unexpected payments to be made for infrastructure development.

Sipcot has set up eight industrial complexes at Ranipet, Hosur, Manamadurai, Cuddalore, Pudukottai, Gummidipoondi, Tuticorin and Irungattukottai.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.