In a rare diplomatic escalation, the French Embassy has directly complained to Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma that RIICO’s land allotment failures are threatening a 3-lakh-tonne malt plant in Kota — even after CM-level agreement was reached
By TRH State Desk
Jaipur, March 28, 2026 — A diplomatic letter has shaken Rajasthan’s investment establishment — and landed squarely on Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s desk.
According to a report by Rajasthan Patrika, the French Embassy wrote directly to CM Sharma on March 20, expressing sharp displeasure over the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation’s failure to allot land to French company Soufflet Malt India for its proposed ₹1,200 crore manufacturing facility in Kota. The embassy warned that the project is now at serious risk — despite agreements reached at the highest level of the state government.
What the letter says
The French Embassy’s letter, which has since gone viral on social media, states plainly that positive discussions and agreements at the CM level have not translated into action on the ground. RIICO has yet to allot the required land. The price now being quoted is significantly higher than the rate originally agreed upon. And the timeline for allotment has been pushed back to December 2026 — a delay that the embassy says has created uncertainty and placed the entire investment in jeopardy, even as the company remains committed to investing in Rajasthan.
The letter further states that the company wishes to meet the Chief Minister again to find a workable resolution.
The project at stake
Soufflet Malt India signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rajasthan government during the Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit to establish a barley-to-malt processing plant primarily serving the beer and food industries. The proposed facility, to be built in two phases by 2027–28, would have a total capacity of three lakh tonnes — one lakh tonnes in the first phase and two lakh tonnes in the second. The company requires approximately 50 acres of land with reliable water access, for which a site near Kota Aerocity had been identified.
RIICO’s response
RIICO officials, as reported by Rajasthan Patrika, offered a point-by-point rebuttal. The corporation says 35 hectares near Kota Aerocity were formally allotted by the Kota Development Authority to RIICO on February 18. On February 25, the company requested 20 hectares of fully developed land — complete with all infrastructure — from that parcel. At a meeting in Jaipur on March 5, the company reiterated that demand. RIICO notes that preparing fully developed land requires eight to ten months, which explains the December 2026 timeline.
On March 9, the company itself emailed RIICO agreeing to accept semi-developed land given the time constraints, and price negotiations are currently ongoing on that basis.
RIICO Managing Director Shivangi Swarnkar told Rajasthan Patrika that the corporation has shown the company multiple plot options suited to its requirements, and that allotment will proceed as soon as the company makes its final selection. “RIICO is ready to allot land to investors to bring maximum revenue to the state,” she said.
Opposition fires back
The letter’s circulation has ignited political controversy. Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara shared the embassy’s letter on social media and launched a direct attack on the Bhajanlal government. According to Rajasthan Patrika, Dotasara wrote that the letter “has exposed the real picture of Rajasthan’s investment policy.” He added: “If investment is not reaching the ground even after CM-level discussions, this directly raises a serious question about the intent of the system. A foreign company is wandering for land.”
The larger question
The episode puts Rajasthan’s investment narrative under uncomfortable scrutiny. The Rising Rajasthan Summit generated substantial headline commitments and MOUs. But when a French company backed by its own country’s embassy cannot secure a 50-acre plot eighteen months after signing, the gap between summit diplomacy and on-ground delivery becomes difficult to explain away.
Whether the holdup reflects bureaucratic complexity, pricing disputes, or something more systemic is now a question that extends well beyond RIICO’s offices — and all the way to the Chief Minister’s desk, where the French Embassy chose to send it.
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