With the current situation, Great Wall Motors and other Chinese companies’ investments will not be cancelled but new investments will be put on hold for now.
Due to the clashes between the India and China of late, questions have risen about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 5,020 crore. Prior to this hostility, Great Wall Motors and a two other prominent Chinese companies (BeiqiFoton Motor and Hengli Engineering) had signed MoUs with the state of Maharashtra exceeding a value of Rs 5,000 crore. It has been clarified that the new status quo does not mean cancellation of MoUs for those three projects but the government is awaiting confirmation on how to proceed with them considering the complexity of the current situation.
So, while existing agreements are likely to continue uninterrupted, no new investments will be encouraged. Earlier this year, GWM had signed an agreement to acquire General Motors’ manufacturing facility in Talegaon and had also announced a Rs 3,770-crore investment towards setting up the plant. This move was expected to provide employment opportunities for more than 3,000 people.
These three projects were part of the ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’ programme that kicked off on June 15.
Story: Joshua Varghese
