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Maha on the warpath for 9 proposed projects
Close on the heels of losing three big-ticket infrastructure projects to five other states within the span of a month, the Eknath Shinde-government has taken up the task of pushing for nine proposed mega projects which are pending approvals by the Centre
Mumbai: Close on the heels of losing three big-ticket infrastructure projects to five other states within the span of a month, the Eknath Shinde-government has taken up the task of pushing for nine proposed mega projects which are pending approvals by the Centre.
On the anvil are several big-ticket projects: A power and renewable energy equipment manufacturing zone on 227 acres at Butibori near Nagpur which will require an investment of ₹400 crore; an electronics manufacturing cluster at Ranjangaon near Pune; an integrated textiles parks at Bidkin near Aurangabad and Amravati on 1,000 acres of land each; a multi-modal logistics park under the Centre’s Bharatmala project in Mumbai, Pune and three more cities; a leather footwear and accessories manufacturing cluster on 151 acres at Mangaon in Raigad; and four investment projects by Chinese companies that were put on hold after the Galwan clash between Chinese and Indian troops. Apart from this, the government is also keen to push forward the oil refinery project in Ratnagiri district, which has been held up due to protests by local residents.
“We are still hopeful that one such [medical devices] park will be given to Maharashtra as well. Industries minister Uday Samant recently met ministers and officials from various departments concerned urging them to expedite their proposals which are estimated to be worth more than ₹2 lakh crore. There are more high-level meetings in Delhi that are expected to take place in near future. The state government has sought an appointment with prime minister Narendra Modi for these projects,” an official from the industries department said.
The government has faced opposition heat over the loss of the ₹1.54 lakh crore Foxconn-Vedanta semiconductor project – for which the previous government had earmarked land in Talegaon Phase IV in Pune -- to Gujarat. On September 1, the Centre gave an in-principal approval to Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh’s proposals for bulk drug parks, rejecting Maharashtra’s proposal for a park in Raigad. More than 100,000 jobs would have been generated had the two projects materialised, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray claimed.
More recently, a Rs-424 crore medical devices park proposed in Aurangabad was turned down by the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers’ department of pharmaceuticals, which instead approved the proposals sent by the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
“We are committed to bring more investment in the state than the proposed investment in the state. Today [September 26] two of our ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Uday Samant visited Gujarat to study the dash board which keeps the record of real time progress of the industrial project. We are sending ministers to other states as well in our bid to adopt best practices in the industrial investment sector,” deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
The Shinde government has countered opposition critique by blaming the Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for its failure to provide an investor-friendly atmosphere in Maharashtra. Industries minister Uday Samant also announced the state’s decision to develop the bulk drug park over 2,500 acres in Raigad by investing ₹5,000 crore and seeking further investment of ₹50,000 crore.
The government is also keen on pursuing investment projects by four Chinese companies, Great Wall Motors (an automobile manufacturing project worth ₹3,770 crore), Hengli (a proposed ₹250 crore expansion of a textiles manufacturing unit in Talegaon), Hailiang Copper (a project worth ₹300 crore) and Hengchun (a project worth ₹20 crore). The state government has sought clarification from Centre on which projects it can go ahead with, according to industries department officials.
“The projects with China were put on hold immediately after the tension on the border last year. The previous government met Niti Aayog officials last September and asked if the stand taken by the Centre continued. There is no response from the Centre on this front as yet,” a second official from the industries department said.
Fadnavis said that the criticism by the opposition over the Foxconn-Vedanta was baseless. “The project went to Gujarat despite hard efforts and best package offered by the state government. The previous government has been making noise over it without any substance. The company was not alloted land and the Thackeray government had not signed any contract with it. It was our government which identified the land and passed the proposal in the cabinet,” he said
