Alarms NCP chief as it sends negative signals to investors
@prashanthamine
Mumbai: On Christmas Eve, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik argued that party chief Sharad Pawar has advocated for the need for not to bring politics into infrastructure projects. He said this while commenting on Shiv Sena ruled Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) ruling in favor of withdrawing its commitment towards Centers ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project. Past history reveals that there have been at least 18 big ticket infrastructure projects and other mega projects that have fallen victim to politics, delays and have even been scrapped.
Speaking to newspersons here the NCP spokespersons admitted that as an elected body the TMC was well within its right to decide on proposals before it on the basis of majority. Malik added that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has strongly advocated that there was no need to bring politics into infrastructure projects. He said that because of the stance taken by both the ruling and opposition parties over the issue a crisis situation has arisen. Malik further stated that the NCP chief was in favor of finding a way out of the situation created.
The showdown between the Shiv Sena and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now acquired some serious political overtones. The Sena ruled TMC aiming to corner the Centers ambitious Bullet Train project comes against the recent decision of the Sena led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVAs) deciding to scrap the Metro 3 line car-shed from Aarey Milk Colony and shift it to Kanjurmarg in Eastern suburbs of Mumbai.
Recently Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had locked horns with its Uttar Pradesh counterpart, BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over developing Film City in Noida on Delhi-UP border.
The recent verbal spats have been sending wrong signals to the investor community as many of the 18 major infrastructure projects in the state and across the country have witnessed delays or have been scrapped due to political agitations over it and at a cost.
Another myth or notion that needs to be cleared here is that most of these 18 mega infrastructure projects were not conceived during the current BJP regime at the Center or during the previous BJP regime in the state. The date and time when the projects were initially conceived on the drawing board suggests otherwise.
Most notable major infrastructure projects that have seen inordinate delays that have led to inevitable increase in project costs which ultimately have placed a burden on the people, include – Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL), Gosi-Khurd irrigation project and Worli-Bandra Sea Link (WBSL).
The idea of a Trans-Harbour Link across the shores of Mumbai was first articulated in the Wilbur Smith report of 1962, a good 58 years ago. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) began construction work on the Rs 14,262 crore project only in 2018. The project itself was cleared on October 22, 2012 and the project is supposed to be thrown open for the public in 2023, which looks like impossible right now.
The now controversial Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project or the High Speed Rail corridor as it is known was first introduced in the 2009-2010 Union Railway budget. The project cost then was Rs 1.1 lakh crore and its planned opening was to be in December 2023.
Interestingly enough the Worli-Bandra Sea Link was conceptualized almost 46 years ago. The foundation stone for the project was laid by late Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray in 1999. However the project was completed only in 2009-2010. From an initial project cost of Rs 6.6 billion the cost rose to Rs 16 billion by the time it was completed.
More than the fact that the Rs 23,136 crore Metro 3 line or the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ line most of which is going to be underground, it is the construction of its car-shed at Aarey Milk Colony that has sparked-off controversy and legal battles. The then Congress chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh had in 2006 had then asked the MMRDA to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for all the 9 metro lines in Mumbai. The DPR for Metro 3 line was submitted in November 2011 and the actual construction work began in 2017.
Although, the Rs 1 trillion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) was ratified in 2006-07, the project was actually launched only in September 2011. The project covers states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Gosi-Khurd national irrigation project which was launched in 1984 is yet to be completed fully.
Some more prime examples of delayed projects include – the Rs 16,000 crore Navi Mumbai International Airport that was planned in 1998. The Rs 22,874.48 crore Nariyara coal based power plant was approved in 2010. The Rs 18,000 crore 225 Km long Delhi-Jaipur Expressway was planned in 2013.
Besides the much touted 55 flyovers constructed during the “Shivshahi” government of Shiv Sena-BJP between 1995-99, one flyover – the V M Jog flyover at Andheri East took four years to complete thanks to prolonged courtroom battles. The incomplete shopping malls and parking lots under the bridge bear testimony to this day.
The Enron power project (1994) at Dabhol in Ratnagiri was another project that witnessed protracted legal battles. The Rs 20,000 crore Polavaram irrigation project which was approved in 2004 in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh is still under construction. It took almost 10 years to complete the Kundankulam nuclear power plant thanks to legal battles and agitations. The Rs 17,270 crore project was approved on March 31, 2002. The first unit of the project was completed in October 2013 and unit two was completed in July 2016.
Construction work on the mega 9,900 MWs, Rs 1.12 trillion Jaitapur nuclear power plant at Madban in Ratnagiri district was supposed to have started in 2018. The agreement for the project was signed on December 6, 2010.
The other mega projects that have been sacrificed at the altar of electoral politics include – the Rs 3 trillion mega green field oil refinery at Nanar in Ratnagiri district, the Rs 51,000 crore POSCO steel plant in Odisha on June 25, 2005, the expansion unit of Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu on March 26, 2018 and the Tata’s Nano car plant at Singur in West Bengal in 2008.
