Pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd's Rs 107 crore expansion plan in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmour district has become a bitter pill the company's being made to swallow. Farmers' suspicions, indeed outright distrust, have placed the company's initiative to expand the capacity of an existing plant at Ganguwala, Paonta Sahib, under a cloud. And on July 28, 2004, district deputy commissioner M L Sharma stopped the construction of a formulation plant at village Bata Mandi after an inspection at the site revealed town and country planning department rules had been flouted.

Sharma took the step in response to a July 21, 2004, Simla High Court order on a petition filed by Bata Mandi farmers. A bench consisting of chief justice V K Gupta and judge M R Verma required the deputy commissioner to inquire if the construction contravened rules: "After satisfying himself that the said construction activity is being carried out in contravention of any such law, rules or regulation on the subject, he shall ensure that such construction activity is stopped forthwith and with immediate effect,' the order said. "The maps of the construction site were yet to be approved by the competent authority,' explains Sharma. "So we stopped construction immediately, as ordered by the honorable court.'
Timely expansion At the Ganguwala plant, Ranbaxy has been manufacturing Lovastatin and Pravastatin