When preparations are being made on a war footing by Madhya Pradesh government to host the Global Investors’ Summit in Indore from October 28 to 30, questions are being raised in knowledgeable circles here about the fate of a large number of MoU’s signed over the last few years to attract investment in Madhya Pradesh.
According to official figures, MoUs pledging investment over `1,00000 crore that were signed during the last few years have been cancelled—in many cases as the companies developed cold feet, may be because of land acquisition problems or environmental clearances or lack of other infrastructure like roads. While the list of the “cancelled” MoUs that have been rejected is huge, some major projects that now stand shelved include UK Land Bank Ltd’s high Level International Study Centre for Vocational Education at Indore (`1600 crore), Rehwa Resources Pvt. Ltd’s 1.8 million tones steel plant along with a 100 MW power plant in Katni district (`2,100 crore), Tata Metalik’s coke oven plant, benefaction plant and a power plant in Shahdol district (`1,000 crore), SKS ISPAT and Power Limited for their `8,430 crore Integrated Steel Plant and captive power plant, .5 million ton steel project of Global hightech Industries (`1,800 crore), JKsem (central) India limited’s `2,500 crore grey portland cement plant, ABG Energy private Limited 1 MTPA alumina Plant (`1,500 crore), Jain Steel and Power Ltd’s 1 million tonne steel plant (`1,000 crore).
Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd’s coke oven plant along with a captive power plant and pig iron plant at Anuppur (`1,465 crore), Electrosteel Castings Limited’s cement and power plant in Shahdol district (`2,380 crore),
The MoUs for power sector projects that have been cancelled include Jindal Pipes Ltd’s 1,000 MW project (`3,983 crore), Lanco Infratech Ltd’s 1200 MW power project in Balaghat district (`5,000 crore). Torrent Power Ltd’s 1000 MW project (`4,000 crore), Jinbhuvish Power Generations Limited’s 540 MW project in Chhindwara region (`2,395 crore), Great Eastern Infrastructure Corporation limited’s 600 MW power project in Jabalpur region (`1,950 crore), Sanghi Energy Ltd’s 405 MW power project in Satna district (`1,620 crore) and Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd’s 2000 MW power project in Sidhi district (`9,000 crore).