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Setback to Amravati industrialization SEZ NewsDuring election time, Dr Deshmukh had assured people to boost industry in the district but failed to fulfill his promises.MLA Rajendra Shekhawat said that Eldeco officials claimed that the entrepreneurs were not showing interest in Amravati and hence there was no point in just developing SEZ. Now the company has signed a document surrendering land to MIDC which would affect industrialization of the region. However, sources said that a decision to surrender land had already been taken. The state government should now search for other developer and immediately start working on SEZ, Paturkar said. I will take up this matter with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. However, no development has taken place till date. We are accountable for developing SEZ but investors are reluctant and hence we plan to surrender land," he said. At this time, the government was focusing on Mihan project in Nagpur. He said that there was no mention of the reason with the regional office why the company took the decision as the issue was handled at the headquarters level. The then chief minister Ashok Chavan had inaugurated SEZ project on February 21, 2009 to give a boost to industrial development. A Chaudhary, regional officer of MIDC, has confirmed that Eldeco had withdrawn from the project.The then guardian minister and finance minister Dr Sunil Deshmukh had made concerted efforts to develop SEZ in five years. It would also affect employment opportunities SEZ would have generated. There were some norms and it was not binding on us to follow," he said. Industrial development of Amravati suffered a setback with the Eldeco Company entrusted with the responsibility of developing special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandgaon Peth surrendering land of MIDC three years after reaching an agreement with the state government.
It was the responsibility of the government and people's representatives to pursue the matter by holding regular meetings with Eldeco officials to sort out the problem. Chief advisor to Eldeco ST Dabhade however did not confirm the news. He (MLA) has been using high-profile contacts for personal gains and not for the development of the city. It was decided to give work to Eldeco Company and 1036 hectare land was given to it. He held the apathy of sitting Amravati MLA responsible for the situation. Dr Sunil Deshmukh said that Eldeco's decision would cause a major setback to the industrial growth of the district. |
President of MIDC Association Kiran Paturkar said that this was a major setback to Amravati. The possibility of creation of 1 lakh jobs now seems to have been affected, he said. He said that the argument of Eldeco officials was technically wrong and volatile of the memorandum of understanding signed with the government. Shekhawat said that "The official had told me that they had invested Rs 30 crore in Amravati. Possession and surrender of land was only done at the regional level, Chaudhary added. But we would look into Nandgaon Peth matter," he said. Instead, he said that "We are mulling over the proposal and discussions are on at our level". When asked whether the decision amounted to violation of the agreement the company had signed with the government, Dabhade said that Eldeco had not entered into a treaty. He said that the government had withdrawn some incentives promised earlier for Amravati SEZ due to which investors were finding no point in developing business ventures. But that did not happen, he said. We have given a proposal to MIDC to develop SEZ and the Eldeco would help the effort," he added.