TNPCB tells NGT Sun Pharma did not implement proposed expansion in Chengalpattu

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s unit at Sathammai village in Chengalpattu district is currently operating within its existing permitted production capacity and has not undertaken the proposed expansion.

The submission was made in a recent report filed before the southern bench of the NGT following an appeal filed by K.R. Selvaraj Kumar of Meenavar Nala Sangam, challenging the environmental clearance granted to the company for expansion.

Consent to establish

According to the TNPCB report, the unit had originally obtained the Board’s consent to establish in 2005 and consent to operate in 2006 for manufacturing pharmaceutical products with a total production capacity of 25.5 tonnes a month. Subsequent consent orders permitted changes in sewage generation, trade effluent disposal and air pollution control measures, without an increase in the permitted product quantity.

The company later obtained environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on March 31, 2022, for increasing its production capacity from 25.5 tonnes per month to 134.082 tonnes per month for active pharmaceutical ingredients within the existing plant. However, the TNPCB said the company had not obtained the Board’s consent to establish or consent to operate for the expansion.

A TNPCB inspection conducted on September 12, 2026, found that the unit was in operation but its production was within the existing consented capacity of 25.5 tonnes a month. The Board also recorded that no expansion activity had been carried out.

The dispute also relates to an earlier NGT order in an original application filed in 2020. The Tribunal had noted violations relating to the unit’s operation without environmental clearance for an earlier expansion and had confirmed an environmental compensation of ₹58.20 lakh for contamination of groundwater and soil. It had also directed payment of an interim compensation of ₹10 crore and asked the TNPCB to assess any additional compensation for operation beyond the permitted pollution load.

The TNPCB report said the company subsequently obtained the 2022 environmental clearance for the proposed expansion and renewed consent from the Board valid up to March 31, 2028, but had not obtained consent specifically for carrying out the expansion.