Royal Raje turns ‘Marwari’ to fill Rajkosh

After four years we can actually say OIL’s WELL! The state government under the leadership of Vasundhara Raje has effectively used its ‘padta’ magic to do the unthinkable. It has been capable of filling the coffers so much so that the Prime Minister “spilled” praise on the Chief Minister. The good news is that We (Rajasthan) will save a whopping Rs 39,328 crore and pave the way for an attractive return on investment of 12%.

This current government renegotiated an agreement with HPCL for setting up a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Barmer. According to the earlier pact inked in 2013, Rajasthan was given 26% partnership in the project with the viability gap funding (VGF) payment worth Rs 60,000 crore.

However, all that is in past tense. Now, the present state government re-negotiated and got its pound of flesh. This resulted in the project cost plumetting by almost two thirds. Also, returns on investment from the project has been estimated at 12%, a whopping six-fold rise from the earlier figure of 2%. 

Vasundhara has been showered with praise from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who himself is excellent in striking deals. And when such compliments come from him, it is needless to say that the achievement is immense. Modi had on Tuesday said that the CM, who belonged to a royal family, has turned into a real Marwari.

The Mariwari style of business, known by the name ‘padta’, allows a person to do a business without incurring losses.

An Economics graduate from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Raje’s acumen in business and finance has benefited the state immensely. She has been responsible for getting several mega projects for Rajasthan in both her tenures.
In this project also, Raje led from the front during financial negotiations with the ministry of Finance and Petroleum and exercised her moral influence over Arun Jaitley and Dharmaendra Pradhan to get things done.

POW WOW OVER MOU

• State’s monetary support to project for acquiring 26% equity Rs 3,871 crore/ State’s 26% equity for Rs 3,738 crore
• VGF for 15 years Rs 3,736 crore per year and total debt burden Rs 56,040 crore / VGF of Rs 1,123 crore per year and total burden is now Rs 16,845 crore
• Total cost of Rajasthan for the project Rs 59,911 crore/Now, it is around Rs 21,000 crore,a saving of Rs 39,328 crore