Sharad Pawar calls out Vedanta-Foxconn plant being moved to Gujarat
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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar slammed the Centre's decision to move the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant to Gujarat when it was first promised to Maharashtra.
Vedanta, an Indian oil-to-metals conglomerate and Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics giant are setting up a Ra 1.54 crore semiconductor plant. It was originally planned to be at Talegaon near Pune city which has an automobile hub near Chakan.
About the government's assurance to give a bigger project to Maharashtra, Pawar said it is like consoling a child. He added that there is no point in discussing the matter further because the Vedanta project has already gone to Gujarat. Pawar also said that if Vedanta proposes another project in Maharashtra in the future, there is no surety it will happen.
Pawar told the media that it can be understood if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are giving a little more attention to their home state but it would have been good for Vedanta-Foxconn if the plant was at Talegaon. "If you see the tours of Modiji, where does he goes frequently? If you see the records of the last two-three months, one thing will be clear - a person has an attachment with his home."
The Rajya Sabha MP criticised Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Industries Minister Uday Samant for blaming the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led government for not Maharashtra not getting the project. The NCP was a constituent of the Sena-led government. Pawar pointed out that both Samant and Shinde were ministers in the Thackeray government.
He observed that talking about bringing the project back to Maharashtra is pointless because it is not going to happen. "Some people are saying the decision should be changed and the project should be brought back to Maharashtra, but it is not going to happen. The project going to Gujarat should not have happened. This was a project of Maharashtra and it should not have gone out of the state, but now there was no point in discussing it."
Pawar noted that this is not the first time something like this happened to Maharashtra. Another project by Vedanta in the coastal town of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra was taken to Chennai.
Founder of Vedanta Anil Agarwal said the company has been professionally assessing the site for the multi-billion dollar investment. He tweeted that it is a scientific and financial process that started two years ago. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu were the states shortlisted. "We decided on Gujarat a few months ago as they met our expectations."
He added that the Maharashtra leadership in July tried to outbid other states with competitive offers. "We have to start in one place and based on professional and independent advice we chose Gujarat."