Though the case is only likely to be heard later this month, five policemen led by a sub-inspector were back at the site after the case was filed. However, the changing political mood at the state as well as the Centre on SEZs in Goa — 12 proposed zones and three already notified (including the Cipla SEZ) — meant that instead of carrying on with the project under police cover, Cipla stopped work altogether and even moved out the machinery that was in place.

Cipla claims it has already spent Rs 200 crore at the site “The amount was spent on construction and our commitments, orders placed from various agencies,” Lulla says. The project report for the SEZ that was cleared by the State as well as the Central government had projected exports of more than Rs 2,500 crore in five years and employment generation for 1lakh people.

While environmentalists raised concerns about pollution levels increasing in the plateau due to the plant’s operations, Cipla’s legal advisor Nitin Sardesai said: “Cipla has a number of pharma plants in the state and nowhere there is pollution or even a single complaint the company.”

Cipla has nine plants in the state’s Verna industrial area, starting from 2000, that export 1200 products to 170 countries. “There is not a complaint against them,” Lulla says about the Verna facilities that were even visited by former US President Bill Clinton in 2006. Yesterday, chief minister Digamber Kamat who was in the capital to meet top Congress bosses and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, asking for all SEZs in the state to be scrapped, was caustic and said, “What has Cipla done for Goa? What has been their social contribution?”

... contd.