MUMBAI, Aug 25: The Maharashtra Government has rejected a proposal jointly submitted by the Delhi-based Thapar group and a consortium of Singapore companies to set up a Rs 3,500 crore industrial park in Ranjangaon, near Pune.

The government has found the proposal `unlucrative' as the price offered by the consortium was far below the reserved price of the Ranjangaon area.``Most of the land has been already distributed to various Indian and foreign companies at our reserved price. The proposal submitted by the Thapar group was not at all feasible for us,'' sources said.

The Delhi-based Thapar group wanted to invest in Ranjangaon through a group company - Greaves.

The cold shoulder given to the proposal is also due to the fact that the Thapars are considered to be close to the previous Congress regime and the project was announced during their term.

The 1500-acre Ranjangaon industrial park has already received firm proposals from various automobile companies which are setting up shopsOf this, the Turin-based Fiat has already selected a site for its Palio project, followed by Audi of Germany and the Bajajs.

Due to many automobile projects, Ranjangaon is described by the state government as the Detroit of India.The Thapars had announced plans to constuct this world-class industrial park in association with some Singapore companies.

The project envisaged providing industrial infrastructural facilities like power, water, roads and housing. This, despite the fact the Thapar group was facing liquidity problems.

``The entire project was linked to massive concessions as far as land was concerned,'' sources added. The project was put in a cold storage as soon as Shiv Sena Government came to power. The industrial park project was even cleared by the previous cabinet.

The Rs 700-crore Greaves is one of the Thapar group's profitable companies and has a major presence in the state. It has set up a diesel auto-rickshaw manufacturing facility at former Chief Minister Sharad Pawar's home constituency, Baramati.

Even if Greaves manages to re-start the project it has to either select a new site or find another outside the state. Company insiders saythe group and their Singapore partner have lost interest the project now. The company can look at the five-star industrial park announced by the new government in the last industrial policy, sources said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.