Srinagar (Deccan Herald)- : A day after the allotment of “free land” to former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s M/s Ceylon Beverage sparked controversy in Jammu and Kashmir, it was revealed that the company has pulled out from an over Rs 1,650 crore investment in Kathua.

The withdrawal was due to the expiration of incentives under the 2021 National Sector Industrial Policy, which ended in September last year. On Saturday, opposition lawmakers in the J&K Assembly raised concerns over the 26-acre land allotment for Muralitharan’s beverage company in Kathua, questioning why land was given “free of cost” to outsiders when locals were denied land for housing under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY).

CPM legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami alleged that norms had been violated, saying, “this is what I am talking about.”

“Land has to be allotted as per the laid norms to any person whosoever apply for land for commercial purposes,” he said and alleged that no money had been charged from the cricketer’s company for the allotment. However, official records show that the land was allotted at ₹64 lakh per acre, with an annual lease of ₹60,000 for the establishment of M/s Ceylon Beverage Can Pvt. Ltd, which is registered in Chennai and already operates a unit in Mysore.

It has also come to fore that Ceylon Beverage only a day before (March 6) has applied for backing out from the project and “will now be installing the bottling and can manufacturing plant at Pune.”

As per officials, Rs 28,400 crore worth incentives under the 2021 Industrial Development Scheme, which offered reliefs like subsidies on capital investment, GST rebates on plant and machinery purchases, and financial assistance for working capital loans, ended in September last year.

The Union Territory government had then sought an extension in incentives but an approval hasn’t been received so far from the Centre.

After waiting for some time, Muralitharan decided to shift the plant to Pune. He applied for backing out of the investment proposal on March 6, officials said.

According to the company’s online profile, Ceylon Beverages is Sri Lanka’s largest beverage processing, filling, and exporting entity, providing contract filling services to major international clients like Coca-Cola and Nestle.