Mumbai: Since the Shinde Fadnavis government took over on June 30, Maharashtra has lost four mega projects with a total investment of over Rs 1.80 lakh crore.
Interestingly, out of the four projects, three will come up in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.
Opportunity for 1 lakh jobs missed
The state industry department sources say that Maharashtra has also missed the opportunity of 1 lakh jobs (both direct and indirect) that would have been generated with the development of these four projects. Of these over Rs 1.80 lakh crore projects, Maharashtra in September lost Rs 1.5 lakh crore Vedanta Foxconn semiconductor project to Gujarat.
Incentives the MVA govt had offered:
The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government had offered a slew of incentives including 400 acres of land free of cost and balance 700 acres at 75 per cent rate at Talegaon. Of the Rs 39,000 crore capital subsidy, the government had offered 25 per cent capital subsidy for display, 30 per cent for semiconductor and 27 per cent for other outsourced semiconductor assembly offerings.
Besides this, the government had agreed for assured power supply of 1200 mw at Rs 3 per unit inclusive of all taxes for 20 years (Rs 5,738 crore), 80 million litres water per day at Rs 12 per cubic meters for 20 years, stamp duty exemption at 5 per cent and an electricity duty exemption at 7.5 per cent for 10 years. MIDC had agreed to give a water subsidy of Rs 337 crore and common effluent treatment changes (Rs 812 crore). The government had also agreed for EPF and ESI incentives worth Rs 864 crore for five years.
Projects and jobs lost
The Shinde-Fadnavis led government lost the Rs 22,000 crore Tata Airbus project to Gujarat. The government had projected that the project would have created direct and indirect employment for 6,000 people had it come in MIHAN, Nagpur. The state government had proposed up to 100 per cent of their fixed capital investment with a customised package of incentives approved by a High Powered Committee (HPC).
Anchor units in industrial areas are provided land at 75 per cent prevailing rate in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) areas in A and B category and 50 per cent prevailing rate in MIDC areas in other locations subject to a maximum of 100 acres.
According to the Maharashtra Aerospace and Defence Policy 2018-22, the government will provide assistance to R&D activities with up to 50 per cent of project cost subject to maximum Rs 10 crore and an additional floor space index of 0.5 to R&D units. Up to Rs 15 crore will be provided for the common facility center from the Rs 300 crore fund created by MIDC.
The state lost the bulk drug project (BDP) to Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The project envisaged an investment of Rs 3,000 crore and 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. The state government had selected the project site at Roha in Raigad district. Although the opposition claimed that the project moved out after the Shinde-Fadnavis government took over, the latter said it happened during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The MVA government had sent the proposal to the Centre but it was not cleared.
In addition, Maharashtra also lost the medical device park which was proposed to come up in AURIC at Aurangabad with an investment of Rs 424 crore. However, it would now come up in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The project would have generated 3000 jobs. This proposal sent by the MVA government did not get a green signal from the Centre.
