New investments: Gujarat pushed to eighth position, even UP and Rajasthan overtake "India's growth engine"

It is not just in investments completed that Gujarat is lagging behind several states. The situation has turned worse for new investments in the state, regarded as “growth engine of India”. Analysis carried out by a researcher with India’s premier independent research body Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) suggests that while Tamil Nadu tops the list of states with new investments in the quarter ended September 2014, Gujarat ranks eighth, with six other states performing better – Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
The researcher, Pradnya Deo, has said, “Announcement of new investments in Gujarat was lower in the quarter at Rs 65.3 billion, in comparison to Rs 176.5 billion in June 2014”, adding, of this, investment worth Rs 28.5 billion was in the shipping transport infrastructure segment alone. Giving details, the researcher said, “Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd announced development of a fourth container terminal at the Mundra port at a cost of Rs. 21 billion”, and “Reliance Industries Ltd announced expansion of the Jamnagar Liquid Jetty Project, by setting up an additional berth” for Rs 7.5 billion.”
“Tamil Nadu topped the charts with new investments worth Rs 373.2 billion, highest in the past four years”, the researcher said, adding, important contributors were announcement by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) to set up a 4,000 MW Tamil Nadu Solar Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) for Rs 260 billion, and the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) announcement to set up a thermal power project at Tuticorin, with an investment of Rs. 32 billion.
Other “slew of industrial projects” announced by the Tamil Nadu government included “a desalination plant has been proposed at Kadaladi in the Ramanathapuram district, with Rs 15 billion investment and a capacity of 15 million litres per day (mld). Another Rs 72.7 billion investments were announced by the state government in the storage & distribution segment”, Deo said.
Then was the turn of Andhra Pradesh, which stood second with “substantial new investments” worth Rs 339 billion”. Of this, Rs 170.5 billion (nearly 50 per cent) was the solar energy sector. “Andhra Pradesh government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for setting up a 1,000 MW solar park at Kadiri in Anantapur district at Rs 70 billion. It signed a MoU with NVVNL (NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd) as well, for 1,000 MW Kurnool Solar Project at Rs. 65 billion. The Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp Ltd (APGENCO) has also announced a 500 mw Kadapa Solar Power Project costing Rs 32.5 billion”, the researcher noted.
As for Maharashtra, Deo said, it “stood third with new investments worth Rs 267.6 billion. This included announcement of a dry port at Aurangabad by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), with an investment of Rs. 150 billion. JNPT has also announced to develop a dry port at Wardha. Goods from these two dry ports shall be sent to the JNPT port for further exports by rail network.”
Karnataka came fourth -- it saw new investments worth Rs 126.9 billion, mainly in the steel industry. “Kalyani Steels has planned to double the capacity of its carbon alloy steel plant at Koppal to 1.4 million tonnes, at a cost of Rs. 55.3 billion. While, Sandur Manganese & Iron Ore Ltd received a Terms of Reference (ToR) approval from the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for expansion of its existing ferro alloy plant capacity at Hanumanhalli in Hospet district”, Deo said.
The fifth rank was of Uttar Pradesh, which saw “the highest amount of new investments in the quarter in the past four years, at Rs. 126.1 billion”, the researcher said. “This includes approval of the Rs. 52.8 billion Meja Phase II Thermal Power Project by the state government, entailing two units of 660 mw each. Another Rs. 70.6 billion investment in Uttar Pradesh was announced in the power sector.”
“The sixth rank was of Rajasthan, which announced new investments worth Rs. 125.9 billion, mainly in the power sector. On September 1, 2014, Adani Power announced to expand the capacity at its Kawai Coal Based Thermal Plant by 1,600 MW (two units of 800 mw each) to 2,920 MW, at a cost of Rs 91 billion”, Deo said.
And, the seventh position in new investments was of Telangana, at Rs 107.4 billion. “Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL) is in talks with the Telangana government for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order for the Manuguru Coal Based Thermal Power Project. The Rs 43.2 billion project entails four units of 270 mw each. Southern Power Distribution Corporation of Telangana Ltd (SPDCT) has also proposed to set up a 500 mw solar plant at Adilabad, with an investment of Rs. 32.5 billion”, the researcher said.

Comments

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead.

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.

Not just Haren Pandya, even Dhirubhai Shah, youngest assembly speaker, wanted to be Gujarat CM

Dhirubhai Shah with Keshubhai Patel When Keshubhai Patel was sought to be replaced by the BJP high command in 2001, everyone knows that Narendra Modi became the final choice. However, someone who was part of the top circles those days now tells me something I had no knowledge of—that the choice was between Modi and a Kutch MLA, Dhirubhai Shah, who served as the 16th Speaker from March 1998 to December 2002 during the 10th Assembly, the youngest to take the office.

Whither PMAY? Affordable housing in decline as Indian real estate shifts focus to premium segments

A leading property consultant that seeks to provide comprehensive real estate services to developers, corporates, financial institutions, and the government has reported that, while housing prices have risen between 10–34% across India's top seven cities over the past year, the once-robust supply of affordable housing has "tottered and dwindled."

How AI mistook Chhattisgarh truce move as religious leaders' appeal for Israel-Palestine peace!

Today, I realized why one shouldn't fully depend on AI, which can, at times, be extremely misleading. What happened was, I uploaded a PDF on one of the AI apps that claims to be the best among those publicly available. The PDF had been emailed to me by Kavita Shrivastava, a senior activist associated with the People's Union for Civil Liberties and the National Alliance of People's Movements, both well-known human rights organizations.

Search This Blog