Maruti Suzuki has appealed for its inability to pay the sum of about Rs. 1,200 crore accumulated over the years for the 600 acre of land it acquired in 2002 for its Manesar Plant.
The company has filed plea at the Supreme Court in this regard. In 2008, Maruti made a payment of about Rs.118.90 crore for the acquired 602.40 acres of land. But Punjab and Haryana High court on Feb 11, 2011 brought out an order to increase the compensation amount from Rs.28. 15 lakh per acre of land to about Rs.37.40 lakh per acre. Later the apex court fixed the same to about Rs.28.15 lakh in its interim order on Aug 10, 2011.
It is important to note that the cost of the land that was fixed in 1994 was about Rs.15 lakh per acre according to a judgment form the High Court. This was later increased to about Rs.20 lakh per hectare by Supreme Court. Further according to the 12% per annum hike fixed by the High Court for 1994 acquisitions, Rs.37.40 lakh was fixed as the final amount.
As a result of this, Maruti still has to pay an additional Rs.1200 crore to the HSIDC (Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation) as they handed over the land to the company post acquisition.
The land around the plant was acquired in three phases, the first phase took place in 1994 and the second and third phase was conducted in 2002.
Maneser plant is one of the most vital part of the company as it manufacturers the most popular models and the diesel variants of the Maruti cars in India. The plant had also witnessed a series of labor unrest in the recent months.
MSI has also argued that there should be a deduction of about 65% of the due as the development charge as company had to develop the land after acquiring. MSI has poured in a large sum for developing and improving the land. Senior Counsel pleading for MSI case, Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also told that the project is equally important form the point of view of Haryana state.