When asked about the project and the purpose of the initiative, an RMC official said: “It is a little early to talk about the project as it is in a very preliminary stage”. Alpana Mitra, Officer on Special Duty, RMC, said: “The project has not yet received an approval from the government. We had a plan to develop a water supply project and we are still in the process.”

Officially, the MoU of the Rs 300 crore project was signed between the RMC and Jindal Water Infrastructure Ltd. (JWIL) of New Delhi, in the presence of the municipal commissioner and the CEO of Rajkot Urban Development Authority (RUDA) at the Vibrant Gujarat summit. JWIL was mentioned as the signatory (taker of the project).

When asked, a JWIL official refused to talk, saying they were not authorised to say anything on the project.

Mitra said: “We were looking for a big developer to handle the construction. We had approached around 12 developers, and we are positive that Jindal may finalise the project with us.”

On further enquiry, an RMC official said: “The truth is that the project has not yet been conceptualised also. This was just an idea the RMC had. We

were given a fixed target of signing MoUs, and therefore we approached many big developers for the project.

But with the deadline approaching, we were told to sign the MoU on the paper and informed that the rest will be taken care of.”