A day after controversy erupted over the land allotment to former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s company, M/s Ceylon Beverage, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua, it has emerged that the company has withdrawn from its ₹1,650 crore investment plan. The decision was made due to the expiry of incentives under the 2021 National Sector Industrial Policy in September last year.
Opposition lawmakers in the J&K Assembly raised concerns over the 26-acre land allotment, questioning why land was given “free of cost” to an outsider while locals struggled for housing under PMAY. CPM legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami alleged violations of norms, though official records show the land was allotted at ₹64 lakh per acre with an annual lease of ₹60,000.
On March 6, Ceylon Beverage formally applied to withdraw from the project, opting instead to establish its bottling and can manufacturing plant in Pune. The J&K government had sought an extension of industrial incentives, but approval from the Centre is still pending.
Ceylon Beverage, Sri Lanka’s largest beverage processing and exporting company, provides contract filling services for major global brands like Coca-Cola and Nestle.
