The Congress party has raised allegations of corruption in the project’s approval, accusing Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh, who also serves as the MLA from Palakkad’s Thrithala constituency. The party claims that the distillery unit, embroiled in Delhi’s liquor policy controversy, was approved without a proper tendering process.
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The Elappully Panchayat in Palakkad, where the brewery is proposed to be built, held an emergency meeting Monday, urging the state government to reconsider its decision. The Congress-led Panchayat cited the region’s ongoing water crisis as its primary concern.
“The panchayat primarily consists of farmers and agricultural land, and we face water scarcity almost every summer. We rely on sourcing water from other areas to meet our needs. Setting up a distillery here would only worsen the situation,” said Sunilkumar S., Vice-President of Elappully Panchayat and a local Congress leader.
According to him, the panchayat was not informed about the project and only learned about it through news reports.
He added that the Congress’s Palakkad unit has been holding demonstrations against the project since Sunday at various public places, including at the land bought for it.
On Tuesday, Youth Congress members in Thiruvananthapuram took out a march to the assembly protesting the state government for granting permission for the distillery, leading to police using water cannons to disperse them.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Palakkad unit, too, is conducting daily marches across the district against the project.
“We already have two distilleries in Palakkad that are not functional. We don’t need another one here,” K.M. Haridas, President of the BJP’s Palakkad unit, said to ThePrint. Haridas said the party will be holding a march to M.B. Rajesh’s office in the district Wednesday and will also unite farmers and agricultural labourers in its protest against the project in the coming days.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior official at the state’s excise department said sanction to Oasis was given according to the rules and regulations.
“They already have distillery units in many states including in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and have experience in this field,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The official added that the unit had obtained clearance from the water authority, which was included in the applications submitted. The clearance assured the excise department that there would be no groundwater exploitation.
The official said the department only received one application to set up a unit here in the state after the Kerala government decided to promote extra neutral alcohol (ENA) manufacturing units as part of its 2023-24 policy for the department.
C.S. Vasudevan, the group president of the Oasis group, told ThePrint that the company submitted its proposal to set up the unit adhering to all the rules and regulations in the state.
According to Vasudevan, the company has been supplying liquor to Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) since 2012. He said the proposed unit in Palakkad is its first project in south India, adding that Kerala is a 100 percent ethanol and ENA deficit state. He also said that the company had approached the state government in 2022 to set up the unit.
“They told us that their existing laws don’t permit a private player to set up the unit. But we were told that we would be considered once it changes,” Vasudevan said, adding that the company bought 24 acres of land in Palakkad in 2022 itself as Kerala’s regulations require the company to have required land for the project. He said the company submitted its project report in November 2023, but it was approved by the cabinet only last week.
Vasudevan stated that the company would rely on rainwater harvesting to meet its water requirements, ensuring no groundwater would be exploited. He emphasised that the six months of monsoon in the state would provide sufficient rainwater for their needs.
He mentioned that out of the 24 acres, nearly 5 acres would be dedicated exclusively to rainwater harvesting.
Vasudevan also maintained that the company will not talk to any political party or give explanation as they have acquired the approval following all the norms.
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Company’s past controversies & the Coca-Cola protest
The Oasis group of companies has been allegedly involved in several controversies, ranging from environmental violations to the Delhi excise policy scam in the past.
In February 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Punjab businessman Gautam Malhotra in connection with the Delhi excise scam case. Malhotra, the Director of Oasis, was arrested under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In July 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the premises of Malbros International, a part of the Oasis group, on money laundering charges linked to groundwater pollution caused by the firm in Punjab.
Raising the company’s controversial past, V.D. Satheesan, the Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, alleged that the State government supported the company flouting norms for the project.
“This company has been given the sanction to operate in the water-scarce Palakkad district. It was after a long-drawn protest that the multinational Coke plant was wound up,” Satheesan said to the media last week.
In response to the allegation, Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh stated that importing 9.26 crore litres of spirit in 2024 alone would be more beneficial if the drink is manufactured locally. He also accused the opposition of unnecessarily politicising the issue.
Vasudevan stated that the company was dragged into the Delhi excise scam as part of a political conflict between the AAP-led state government and the BJP-led central government. Regarding the environmental pollution allegations in Punjab, he pointed out that a monitoring committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) concluded that the company was not responsible for the groundwater contamination in the region.
Located in Central Kerala bordering Tamil Nadu’s western districts, Palakkad is one of the hottest districts in the state.
In the early 2000s, the district saw a 2-year-long protest in Plachimada led by locals against the Coca-Cola unit there. The villagers alleged that the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverage (HCCB) plant, set up in Plachimada in 2000, was causing groundwater scarcity and contamination in the area. The protests started in 2002 and continued till 2004, bringing national attention until the factory stopped its operations that year.
Veteran CPI(M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who was then the leader of the opposition, had openly supported the protest.
Congress, BJP using the issue for ‘political gains’
The Rs 600-crore project has brought together the state BJP and Congress, national rivals who are in opposition in Kerala. However, both parties clarified that their opposition to the project was not based on shared grounds.
“We don’t have the same take as the Congress on this issue. One local Congress leader even helped the firm to get the land for the project,” Haridas alleged, adding that Congress is opposing the project to ensure liquor import in the state, as most of the liquor is imported from Congress-ruled Karnataka into Kerala.
Meanwhile, Elappully Panchayat President and Congress leader Revathy Babu told ThePrint that the Panchayat will approach the court to oppose the project. Revathy said the region, mostly dependent on agriculture, needs industries supporting farming and not a distillery unit.
She said the BJP’s allegation about the Congress’s involvement is false as the local party functionary, Appukuttan, is a real estate dealer and was doing his job without knowledge of the project.
Thankamani A., a CPM leader from Elappully and former Panchayat president, told ThePrint that both the BJP and Congress are opposing the project for their political gains.
“It’s an investment opportunity for the State. But the BJP and Congress are opposing it since they want to increase their political reach here,” Thankamani said. He claimed that the panchayat’s allegation that the government didn’t inform them was false as the state government had intimated the panchayat secretary regarding the project.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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