Gujarat ranks fifth in investment completion for quarter ending Sept 2014, lowest in four years, says CMIE

By A Representative
Latest analysis of the data collected by the Centre for Monitoring Economy (CMIE), India’s premier independent economic research body, has busted the myth that Gujarat is the "growth engine" of India, as claimed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even as releasing facts suggesting that there has been a “steep decline in commissioning of projects” in India, lowest since December 2006, CMIE researcher Pradnya Deo has said, Gujarat is "in the fifth spot with investment completion at Rs 18.1 billion", which is “the lowest amount of investments completed in Gujarat in the past four years.” The researcher added, “Of these investments, Rs. 14.1 billion “belonged to the manufacturing sector.”
Deo said, while “completion of investment projects in India was substantially low in the September 2014 quarter at Rs 288 billion, showing a year-on-year decline of 54.8 per cent”, Karnataka saw “maximum investment completion in the September 2014 quarter at Rs. 81.3 billion, highest in the past six quarters.” The Rs 64 billion Mangalore Aromatic Complex Project was “mainly responsible for this”, he said, adding, the ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd “completed this project on 16 September 2014. It has a capacity of producing 0.9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of paraxylene and 0.3 mtpa of benzene.”
Deo further said, “Maharashtra stood second for the second consecutive quarter with completion of investments worth Rs 57.7 billion. Over 50 per cent of these investments were in the manufacturing sector. Another Rs. 25.8 billion investment was completed in the services sector, of which Rs 17.3 billion belonged to the transport segment. Road infrastructure in Mumbai got a major boost with completion of the Rs. 17 billion Sion Panvel Expressway. The expressway covers a stretch of 23.09 kms and is expected to reduce travel time by 30 minutes.”
Then came Jharkhand, which “saw investments worth Rs 28.6 billion completed in the September 2014 quarter, as opposed to no investment completion in the September 2013 quarter. Completion of Tata Group’s Continuous Annealing & Processing Line Facility at Jamshedpur worth Rs. 27.5 billion was primarily responsible for this. The project has a capacity to produce 0.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of high quality cold rolled sheets.”
On the fourth position stood Telangana, with “Rs 20.3 billion, in comparison to Rs. 6.2 billion in September 2013 quarter. The major project to see light was Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd’s (P&G) Kothur Laundry, Personal and Babycare Products Project worth Rs. 9 billion, set up at Mahbubnagar. The amount of investments completed in Telangana was also higher than those in Andhra Pradesh, which saw completion of investments worth Rs. 14.2 billion in the quarter.”
In all, the researcher said, “Stalled investments in India stood at Rs. 1,390 billion in the September 2014 quarter, 16.8 per cent lower than the year ago level. Jharkhand saw maximum stalling of investments at Rs. 361 billion, primarily because of land acquisition problems.” The projects abandoned due to land acquisition issues include:

Steel Authority of India Ltd’s (SAIL) Rs. 250 billion Sindri Integrated Greenfield Steel Plant Project with a 5.6 mtpa capacity.
SAIL also abandoned its Rs. 50 billion Sindri Power Project with 1,000 mw capacity.
SAIL’s Sindri Urea Project, which involved setting up a fertiliser plant having 1.15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity.

Meanwhile, another CMIE researcher, Suparna Chattopadhyay, analyzing the steep decline in commissioning of projects, said, “Projects worth Rs 318 billion were commissioned during the quarter ended September 2014, registering a sharp decline. The value of investment in these 211 projects completed was lowest in the past 32 quarters, i.e since December 2006. Estimates for project completion are expected to go up with information coming in with a lag, but chances are less that the value will go up significantly.”

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Counterview

Search This Blog