Now that we all live with the global pandemic, COVID 19, it’s impossible to think of going back to the old normal. In India, Maharashtra is the state worst affected by a coronavirus, and we all could foresee this action coming.
The Maharashtra government has put on hold three major agreements signed with Chinese companies at the recently concluded Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet, officials said.
The proposed projects entail investments of around Rs 5,000 crore in the state.
“We have taken this decision in consultation with the Central government. These agreements were signed prior to the development on the Indo-China border and killing of 20 Indian soldiers,” Industry Minister Subhash Desai said.
Advice By Ministry of External Affairs
He added that the Ministry of External Affairs has advised the state government against signing any further agreements with Chinese companies. It may be recalled that at the online Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 meet, the state government signed agreements worth over Rs 16,000 crore with global companies including Chinese groups.
They include a Rs 3,770-crore MoU with the Great Wall Motors to set up an automobile manufacturing unit in Pune’ Talegaon and a Rs 1,000-crore in partnership with Foton (China) and PMI Electro Mobility. Besides, Henglu Engineering made a commitment of Rs 250-crore for the expansion plans at its unit Phase II in Pune.
Apart from China, the state signed around nine other MoUs with companies from the US, South Korea, Singapore, and various domestic entities, with huge employment generation potential.
Maharashtra’s struggle with COVID 19 looks ongoing. At the moment, the state is at 1,32,075 cases out of which 65744 cases have been recovered and 6170 have died. Moreover, the state is in desperate need of more doctors, beds, ventilators, and space.
