NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday termed as "bizarre" Maharashtra government signing an MoU with realty firm Lodha Developers Ltd and asked whether there was some hidden meaning to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis signing the pact in Switzerland.
Lodha Developers will invest Rs 1.3 lakh crore to build a 2.5 gigawatt data centre park near Mumbai as part of its strategy to expand business.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government for an additional Rs 1 lakh crore investment to develop the data centre park. The MoU was signed against the backdrop of the World Economic Forum, Davos.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The Chief Minister of Maharashtra goes to Davos and signs a MoU with a company belonging to a minister in his Cabinet."
"Did he have to sign it in Switzerland or is there some hidden meaning in this bizarre event?" Ramesh asked.
Earlier in the day, the Congress criticised the Maharashtra government over the MoUs signed by the state government at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, questioning the reason behind going abroad to ink deals with Indian companies.
Chief Minister Fadnavis is attending the WEF annual meeting in Davos, where he signed 19 MoUs involving investment commitments worth Rs 14.5 lakh crore and more than 15 lakh jobs on its first day.
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, "If Indian companies are going abroad to sign agreements, what is the benefit? Will foreign companies actually invest in Maharashtra?"