Auric left out again, no major investment from WEF summit

MoUs worth Rs 80,000 crore signed in WEF by State

VAIBHAV PARWAT

Aurangabad, May 25:

In yet another downer, the Aurangabad Industrial City (Auric) under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) has failed to attract any major investments from the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Switzerland’s Davos.

The Maharashtra government signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) of over Rs 80,000 crore with 24 companies. Investments coming to the State are from countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, USA and Japan in diverse sectors including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, IT, data centres, textiles, food processing, packaging, paper and pulp and steel. MoUs were signed for investments in Nagpur, Kolhapur, Pune and Raigad. However, there has been no major investment received for the Auric city. After spending Rs 5,000 crore on land acquisition and state-of-the-art facilities, no anchor project has been brought yet. So far 400 out of 10,000 acres has been allotted and 150 plots were sold generating a revenue of Rs 500 crore. According to highly placed sources in Auric, talks are underway with two major companies that are keen on making investments in Auric.

Investments received in Davos for State:

-Textile companies Indorama Corporation and Indocount Industries Ltd are investing Rs 600 crore and Rs 510 crore in Nagpur and Kolhapur.

-Microsoft is investing Rs 3200 crore for a data centre in Pune.

-Sinarmas Pulp and Paper Pvt Ltd, an entity of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) from Indonesia is investing Rs 10,500 crore in Raigad.

-Havmor Ice Creams Pvt Ltd is investing Rs 263 crore for an ice cream manufacturing unit in Pune.

Aura of Auric yet to yield any result

The Aura of Auric, FDI and Tourism Conclave was held at Auric City hall in March. Ambassadors from eight countries participated in the conclave to increase foreign investment in Aurangabad. Despite two months of the conclave, no investment has come towards Auric.

Magnetic Maharashtra not so magnetic for Auric:

Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 programme was introduced for strengthening the resilience of the State’s economy. Today, a total of ten editions of these programmes have been organized, with 120 MoUs as of today, bringing the total investment in the State to Rs 2.15 lakh crore in the State. In the previous nine editions, in the last two years, 98 MoUs were signed and 93 of them are under various stages of implementation. But this also proved a downer for Auric. Only Novolipetsk and Hyosung were major investors.

Bidkin on the waiting:

The State government is planning to make Bidkin a medical equipment manufacturing hub and food processing hub. Around 300 acres of land has also been reserved for the projects. The announcement was made two years ago, but no progress has been made in this regard.

Major investors in Auric:

Coatall Films: Rs 70 crore

Novolipetsk steel: Rs 1400 crore

Fuji Films: Rs 600 crore

ACG Capsules: Rs 600 crore

Hyosung: Rs 3000 crore

Nath Foils: Rs 200 crore

Reckitt Benckiser: Rs 1000 crore