Maharashtra puts Great Wall Motors investment on hold

• Investment by Great Wall Motors amongst the three put on hold
• Investments totalling Rs 5,020 crore from Chinese companies affected

In the wake of the recent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, the Maharashtra government has put three recently announced Chinese investments including Great Wall Motors, BeiqiFoton Motor and Hengli Engineering on hold.

“The decision has been taken in consultation with the Union government. These were signed prior (to the killing of 20 Indian soldiers on the Indo-China border). The ministry of external affairs has advised not to sign any further agreements with Chinese companies,” said industry minister Subhash Desai, who has been quoted in a Times of India report.

One of the major investments in the automotive segment was from Great Wall Motors, which announced a Rs 3,770 crore investment towards setting up its plant in Talegaon, Pune, and a plan to hire more than 2,042 people. In January 2020, Great Wall Motors had signed an agreement with General Motors to acquire GM India’s manufacturing facility in Talegaon. 

The virtual MoU signing-in ceremony was in the presence of James Yang, president and Parker Shi, MD of GWM India, and Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong, and Minister of Industries, Government of Maharashtra, Subhash Desai. At the time, Parker Shi had said, “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 a US$ 1 billion investment in India in a phased manner, which is directed towards manufacturing world-class intelligent and premium products, R&D centre, building supply chain and providing jobs to over 3,000 people.”

The second major investment is from Haryana-based coach manufacturing company PMI Electro Mobility Solution, with its Chinese partner BeiqiFoton Motor, to set up an electric bus manufacturing plant in Talegaon worth Rs 1,000 crore and create 1,500 jobs.

The third is that of hydraulic equipment manufacturer Hengli Engineering, which planned to invest Rs 250 crore in a facility at Chakan, Pune.

These three projects together constitute Rs 5,020 crore worth of investment. They are part of the 12 MoUs, worth Rs 16,030 crore, signed by the state government under the 'Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0' programme, which kicked off on June 15.

IMAGE SOUCE: Car News China on Facebook

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