On Thursday, the Railway Ministry announced that its DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corporation of India Limited) is going to terminate the mega-contract signed with the Beijing firm.
A few days back, the DFCCIL in a meeting with the World Bank had proposed to need to terminate the contract if it has to stick with the deadlines of the project. The World Bank is the funding agency for the project and it confirmed the news. A spokesperson from the World Bank spoke to the media and said,
“We received most of the information by June 9, and are currently reviewing the information provided.”
Contrary to the claims running in the social media, the Railway Ministry did not attribute the decision to the growing tensions among India and China but because of the shortcomings of the project. However, it did not deny that the timing of the decision was related to the dispute.
The Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Co. Ltd, with whom the contract was signed, had performed poorly and reportedly disappointed the Dedicated Freight Corporation of India Limited. The World Bank Spokesperson further said,
“In April, DFCCIL brought to the Bank’s notice delays in implementation of this contract. The Bank had sought more details on the contract implementation issues.”
Maharashtra Government Freezes 3 Agreements
In similar news, the Maharashtra government froze three agreements that were signed with the Chinese companies in the recently concluded Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet. It is reported that the proposed investment of all the three investments is over Rs. 5,000 crores. The Industry Minister Subhash Desai said,
“The decision has been taken in consultation with the Union government. These were signed prior to the dispute. The ministry of external affairs has advised not to sign any further agreements with Chinese companies.”
The Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 event was held to kickstart the economy post the COVID-19 pandemic. There were a total of 12 agreements signed with companies from different countries like Singapore, South Korea, the United States, etc. There were some Indian companies too. The three agreements with Great Wall Motors of China included Rs. 3,770 crore rupees of MoU to set up an automobile plant in Talegoan near Pune.
Source: The Indian Express
