MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress on Thursday alleged that the Vedanta-Foxconn project has been shifted to Gujarat under pressure from the central government even as the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had offered a better package to the company to set up the plant.
The project has been moved to Dholera in Gujarat, although it is an "inconvenient" place as compared to Talegaon near Pune, where it was earlier planned to be set up, state Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant claimed in a statement, adding that the move will harm the country as there is a possibility of the project getting stalled.
State Congress's chief spokesman Atul Londhe told reporters that if the decision to move the project to Gujarat had already been taken by the company, why was a meeting of the high-powered committee of the Eknath Shinde-led state government held in July this year.
A blame game has begun in Maharashtra following the announcement two days ago that the joint venture semiconductor project of the Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, proposed to be set up near Pune earlier, will come up in Gujarat.
"Even as the previous MVA government's offer for a better package than Gujarat, the Vedanta-Foxconn project has gone to Dholera under pressure from the central government. Since Dholera is an inconvenient place, many companies, including ISMC Digital, which proposed manufacturing semiconductors just like Vedanta-Foxconn have chosen to withdraw from the same place," Sawant said.
Moving the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project to Dholera will not only harm Maharashtra, but also the country, he alleged.
The Congress leader claimed that as per the internal report of Vedanta company, Talegaon in Maharashtra was a suitable place for this semiconductor project.
A comparative study of both Talegaon and Dholera was conducted, and Dholera was given less preference citing various reasons like lack of water supply, skilled labours, electronics manufacturing ecosystem, absence of supply chain vendors and secondary manufacturers and also marshy land, he said.
"Even though Maharashtra had offered many concessions, including more capital subsidy than Gujarat, the decision to move the project to Dholera has been made only under the pressure of the central government," Sawant alleged.
When Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, he had announced many non-feasible projects in his state and wasted thousands of crores of rupees from the taxpayer's money, he claimed.
"Recently, three companies had applied when a proposal was invited for semiconductor manufacturing with an estimated investment of USD 10 billion in the country. One of them, ISMC Digital, was supposed to come up at Dholera. But this company has fled Dholera due to lack of facilities and water availability. Interestingly, the Gujarat government had entered into an MoU with this company," Sawant said.
According to him, Jiophone, a joint project of Google and Reliance, left Dholera and moved to Tirupati. Earlier, Lockheed Martin Corporation withdrew from the solar battery project.
Hindustan Construction Company had entered into an MoU to build a waterfront city worth Rs 40,000 crore at Dholera. But after paying some money for the place, it withdrew.
Lashing out at the Eknath Shinde-led government for losing the project, Sawant said it would have provided employment to the people of Maharashtra and income to the country.
"There is a possibility now that project would be stalled for a long time due to the stubborn attitude of the central government.," the Congress leader alleged.
When Modi was the chief minister, his government forced the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation to take Rs 10,000 crore worth of bonds, showing that it had found gas reserves. No gas was found ultimately and the company became debt-ridden. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was forced to buy GSPC by the Modi government, he said.
"PM Modi claimed to have promised the Maharashtra government a bigger project than Foxconn, but the state does not need his favour for such a big project," Sawant said.
"Maharashtra has always remained number one in the field of industry on its own merits. It is unfortunate that BJP leaders are weakening the state to fulfil Modi's dream of making Gujarat successful by snatching projects from Maharashtra," Sawant said.
In one of his tweets, Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal said that, "We decided Gujarat a few months ago as they met our expectations. But in a July meeting with Maharashtra leadership, they made a huge effort to outbid other states with competitive offers. We have to start in one place and based on professional and independent advice we chose Gujarat."
Referring to the tweet, Congress leader Londhe asked, "Was Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal politically pressured to make a statement?" "There is tremendous anger in Maharashtra against the central and state governments for shifting the Vedanta-Foxconn project to Gujarat.
The public reaction has worried the Shinde government and as a damage control measure, it is blaming the MVA government," he said.
Londhe said that according to Agarwal, the decision to shift the project to Gujarat had already been made, "So, if the decision had already been taken, then why was a high-powered committee meeting was held under the chief secretary on July 15 to provide all the facilities to the project," he asked.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have two separate war rooms.
Work is done through this medium to bring big projects to the state, but due to the dispute between the two leaders, the state is suffering, Londhe said, adding that such a big project going outside the state is a big blow for the unemployed youths of the state.