Excessive delay in land acquisition by the West Bengal government has disrupted the expansion plan of Tata Metaliks (TML) in Kolkata. Mr. Harsh K Jha, Managing Director, TML, told the reporter on Monday that the company had applied for 350 acres of land near the existing plant at Kharagpur for expansion in February 2005. Further he said “Three years have already passed. We are yet to get the land although we had paid 70% of the land value in advance”. He added that it was extremely disappointing for the company. He said on the strategy, “We are working on multiple projects and are looking for alternative sites outside the state”.
Mr. Jha said that as per the original plan of TML, the cost of expansion was pegged at Rs 700-900 crores. But now, the project cost has increased due to delay. On the query, whether TML had received any communication from the state government, he said that the company was expecting to get the land by July.