Projects worth Rs 2.4 lakh crore in limbo in Chhattisgarh: Report

Raipur: More than 150 projects with investments worth Rs 2.39 lakh crore in Chhattisgarh are in limbo due to poor execution, lack of clearances and land acquisition issues pushing up their cost multiple times, according to industry body Assocham.

The industry chamber said the mineral-rich state has also recorded a decline in growth in new investments over the

last one decade and called up the government to identify the key impediments that are blocking investments.

As many as 151 projects with investments to the tune of Rs 2.39 lakh crore have remained non-starter, triggering

their actual cost by nearly Rs 1 lakh crore, as per the study on 'Impact of delay in investment implementation in

Chhattisgarh,' it said in a report.

"Of these projects that remained stuck under different stages of implementation across Chhattisgarh as of financial

year 2014-15, 73 reported either time or cost overruns or both," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said in a press conference.

Amid stuck projects (as of FY15), electricity sector had the maximum share of 52 per cent followed by manufacturing

(38%), mining (6%), non-financial services (3.5%), real estate and construction (0.2%) and irrigation (0.2%), he said.

"Delay in land acquisition, lack of clearances (both environment and non-environment), fund constraints, poor

promoter interest, unfavourable market conditions, dearth of skilled labour, poor supply of fuel/feedstock/raw material, law and order problems are certain key factors that have resulted in serious cost overruns."

Considering that investment is the key driver of productivity and sustainability that leads to development and

growth, Chhattisgarh government must try to identify the key impediments that are blocking investments and address them with vigour and urgency, he said.

The study has pointed out that growth in new investments attracted by Chhattisgarh has also declined sharply - from

about 59 per cent expansion rate in 2006-07 to just about 7 per cent in 2014-15.

"Very little progress has been made in terms of garnering a bigger role in the national scheme of things by

Chhattisgarh as the policymakers have not been able to exploit State's true potential as its contribution to Indian economy has remained at just 1.6 per cent in 2013-14 as was observed in 2004-05 as well," Rawat said.

So far as industrial sector is concerned, its growth has also slowed significantly from 10 per cent as of 2011-12 to just about five per cent as of 2014-15, he added.