It’s been nearly seven years since an MoU was inked between Wonderla, an amusement park operator, and the Tamil Nadu government but the project is yet to take off due to the local body tax (LBT) that is levied by the State. An MoU for this project, which is worth ₹500 crore, wassigned during the first edition of Global Investors Meet (GIM) that happened in 2015 during the AIADMK regime.
“We are still in talks with the government and hope that the issue can be resolved soon,” Arun Chittilappilly, Managing Director of Wonderla Amusement Parks and Resort, said. Pointing out that Wonderla continues to be bullish about its investment commitment in Tamil Nadu, he said, “We have always maintained that we will build the park in Chennai if the LBT issue is solved. The simple truth is that the project is not viable under the current tax laws of Tamil Nadu. At a board level, we cannot okay projects that are unviable,” he added.
