AIIB Watch Cases

Status: Approved
Timeframe: 2017-2029
Area: Mumbai, Republic of India
AIIB Investment Amount: Up to US$ 37.51 million
Total Project Cost: US$ 187.55 million committed capital upon closing on July 6, 2020

E&S Category: FI

Project Details: The fund's strategy is to invest in infrastructure platforms/ services companies with high growth potential that derive their revenues principally from India. Proposed sectors include energy and utilities, transport and logistics, and other sectors, including telecommunications, broadband, urban PPP projects, healthcare and education.

Resettlement: The land acquisition process has been flawed, and people in the affected communities have been intimidated. The project required the diversion of almost 1,200 acres of multi-crop irrigated land for industrial use, contrary to Odisha state law. Nearly 1,300 families lost their agricultural lands, and the project has economically displaced another 100. The company acquired 78 acres of forest without recognizing the local community's rights, violating the 2006 Recognition of Forest Rights Act. Families report being coerced and threatened into parting with land at meager prices, over $1,600 lower than mean values for the area for the three years prior to the beginning of the project. Communities also claim that the company acquired land by force from indigenous and marginalized castes like Dalits, who are constitutionally protected. Researchers recently estimated that the GKEL project increased landlessness in the area by approximately 23 per cent.

CSO reports and organizations monitoring: BIC Report

AIIB interactions to date: None

Further information: AIIB Page

Last update: 31.12.2023