Chinese carmaker GWM's investment plans frozen by Maharashtra Government
Last week, Chinese automobile major Great Wall Motors (GWM) made major announcements confirming the setup of the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Maharashtra along with mentioning its plans of 1 Bn US$ (Rs 7,700 crore) investment in India in a phased manner. However, this has now hit a roadblock as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has put a hold on all the investments by Chinese companies in India, which was a part of the Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet. This update comes after the recent clash of troops from both the countries at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh.
This meet was an initiative by the Maharashtra Government to restart its state economy that has been severely affected due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. A total of 12 MoUs were signed virtually at this meet with participants from South Korea, US, Singapore along with many Indian companies. However, the MVA has decided to hold the investment plans of three Chinese companies, which in addition to GWM are PMI Electro Mobility and Hengli Engineering.
PMI Electro Mobility Solutions (PEMSPL)'s Rs 1,500 Crore investment plan to manufacturer electric buses in partnership with Chinese partner Beiqi Foton Motor Company (Foton) had mentioned of 1,500 employment opportunities. On the other hand, Hengli Engineering, China's largest hydraulics manufacturer, had announced its Rs 250 crore unit in Maharashtra which could have given 150 jobs.
Parker Shi, Managing Director, GWM India, in a statement earlier this week, had stated. "We would like to thank the Maharashtra government for extending full support and helping us foster a long and mutually beneficial cooperation that hopefully will turn out to be a great business proposition for both. This would be a highly automated plant in Talegaon with advanced robotics technology integrated in many of the production processes. Overall we are committed to 1 Bn US$ of investment in India in a phased manner, which is directed towards manufacturing world class intelligent & premium products, R&D centre, building supply chain and providing jobs to over 3000 people in a phased manner."
We have reached out to GWM India for an official comment on the above. And will update this story with an official response as and when it comes from the company. stay tuned to OVERDRIVE
Source: TOI