Vedanta Says Semiconductor Plant Deal With Gujarat Based on 'Independent Advice'; Maha Dy CM Fadnavis Responds

Amid the blame game in Maharashtra over the state government losing a key Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant deal to Gujarat, chairman of Vedanta Resources Ltd Anil Agarwal on Wednesday said that the company is still committed to investing in Maharashtra.

Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal also cleared the air over company’s decision to sign the deal with Gujarat and said it “chose Gujarat based on “professional and independent advice”.

“We decided on Gujarat few months ago as it met our expectations. But in the July meeting with Maharashtra leadership, they made a huge effort to outbid other states with a competitive offer. We have to start in one place and based on professional and independent advice, we chose Gujarat,” Agarwal said in a tweet.

“We will create a pan-India ecosystem & are fully committed to investing in Maharashtra as well. Maharashtra will be our key to forward integration in our Gujarat JV,” he added.

Responding to Anil Agarwal’s tweet, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the company’s decision to “choose Maharashtra for forward integration”.

Fadnavis said it was “disappointing that negative, false and baseless claims are being spread to gain political mileage”.

“This is only to hide their own incompetence. I want to ask opposition leaders, who sent back ₹3.5 lakh crore refinery from Maharashtra?” Fadnavis added.

Political Blame Game in Maharashtra Over Losing Vedanta-Foxconn Deal

The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government is facing backlash from the opposition, especially those who were part of the previous MVA government, for letting go of the crucial mega deal with Vedanta-Foxconn to Gujarat.

Shiv Sena leader and minister in the previous MVA government Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday hit out at the Eknath Shinde-led government for letting go off “an almost finalised” deal out of Maharashtra.

The Rs 1.54 lakh-crore venture by the mining conglomerate Vedanta, Thackeray said, was brought to a final stage of being set up in Maharashtra under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Sharing the news of the project on Twitter, Thackeray said, “Although I’m glad to see this in India, I am a bit shocked to see this. The new dispensation had tweeted photos, claiming to have brought this to Maharashtra, but it seems intent/ commitment was to send this away from Maharashtra.”

“Our MVA Govt had brought this to final stage,” Aaditya Thackeray added.

Aaditya Thackeray said the mega project would have supported 160 ancillary industries and generated 70,000 to 1 lakh employment opportunities. He said the previous MVA government was in touch with the company and a meeting had also taken place with its representatives in January this year.

Slamming the Shinde-led dispensation, which took office on June 30, the junior Thackeray said, “What was the government doing? What was the industries minister doing? On July 26, the CMO tweeted that the plant will come up in Maharashtra”.

NCP, the main opposition outfit, accused the neighbouring state, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of snatching morsel from Maharashtra’s mouth. State NCP president and former minister Jayant Patil said with the big-ticket project slipping away from the hands of Maharashtra, the state has lost an investment potential of more than Rs one lakh crore.

Terming it a “huge disappointment”, NCP MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday said over 3 lakh students are going to be deprived of jobs.

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