Pollution board tells tribunal Sun Pharma has not begun proposed Chengalpattu expansion
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has told the National Green Tribunal that Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ Chengalpattu unit is operating within its existing permitted capacity and has not carried out a proposed expansion. The company has environmental clearance for higher production but lacks specific board consent to undertake that expansion, TNPCB said.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has told the National Green Tribunal that Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s unit at Sathammai village in Chengalpattu district is operating within its existing permitted capacity and has not undertaken a proposed expansion. The submission was made in a report filed before the southern bench of the NGT in response to an appeal by K.R. Selvaraj Kumar of Meenavar Nala Sangam.
The appeal challenges environmental clearance granted to the company for the expansion. According to the TNPCB, the unit originally received consent to establish in 2005 and consent to operate in 2006 for pharmaceutical production of 25.5 tonnes a month. Later consent orders changed arrangements for sewage, trade effluent and air-pollution control, but did not increase the permitted product quantity.
The company obtained environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on March 31, 2022. That clearance covered an increase in active pharmaceutical ingredient production from 25.5 tonnes to 134.082 tonnes a month within the existing plant. However, the board said Sun Pharma had not obtained its consent to establish or consent to operate for carrying out the expansion.
A TNPCB inspection on September 12, 2026, found the unit operating within the existing 25.5-tonne monthly limit, and recorded that no expansion activity had taken place. The dispute also concerns an earlier NGT case filed in 2020. The Tribunal had noted violations connected with operation without environmental clearance for an earlier expansion and confirmed environmental compensation of ₹58.20 lakh for groundwater and soil contamination.
It also directed payment of interim compensation of ₹10 crore and asked the TNPCB to assess any additional amount for operation beyond the permitted pollution load. The board said the company later obtained the 2022 environmental clearance and renewed consent valid until March 31, 2028, but not consent specifically for the expansion.
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