Maharashtra govt stalls 3 Chinese projects worth Rs 5000 crore amid 'Boycott China' call

Following the Galwan valley clash at the LAC, the Maharashtra Government in a major decision has put three big-ticket agreements involving the Chinese government on hold. The agreements were signed at the recent Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet at a proposed investment deal of over Rs. 5000 crore. The decision by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was taken after consultation with the Central government, as per sources. The Centre has further advised the state government not to sign any agreements with Chinese companies, state Industries Minister Subhash Desai informed.

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The virtual conference meet held last week was attended by Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong. The three Chinese agreements included a Rs 3,770-crore MoU with Great Wall (GWM) to set up an automobile plant in Talegaon near Pune. Further, PMI Electro Mobility in a joint venture with Foton (China) had announced a Rs 1,000-crore unit that would create 1,500 jobs, informed a government press release.

Other Chinese companies that made commitments for investment was Hengli Engineering, a Rs 250-crore investment as part of its phase II expansion at Talegaon, a project that would generate 150 jobs.

Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 was an effort by the Maharashtra govt to restart the economy, which is adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. A total of 12 agreements included companies from Singapore, South Korea, US besides several Indian companies, Desai informed. he further said that state government is actively processing the other nine MoUs.

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The decision to freeze the Chinese projects comes in the wake of the border clashes at LAC. At the all-party meeting addressed by PM Modi on Friday, Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray extended his support to the PM and the families of the martyred soldiers.

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Galwan Valley incident

On the intervening night between June 15 and 16, the Indian Army and Chinese Army personnel were involved in a massive clash instigated by the Chinese, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 20 Indian soldiers, with China taking between 35-45 casualties, as per at least three accounts which Beijing has been tight-lipped about in the guise of 'goodwill'.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed that the entire Galwan Valley was a part of Chinese territory. These claims were dashed in a detailed statement by India's Foreign Ministry, which read that China's claims were "exaggerated and untenable" and that it was not in accordance with China's previous position. "We expect that the Chinese side will sincerely follow the understanding reached between the Foreign Ministers to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas, which is so essential for the overall development of our bilateral relations," MEA stated.

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