Vedanta-Foxconn project shifted to Gujarat due to Centre's pressure: Congress

Maharashtra Congress on Thursday alleged that the VedantaFoxconn 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 plantThe 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 stalledA blamegame 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 GujaratEven as the previous MVA governments 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 VedantaFoxconn have chosen to withdraw from the same place he saidAlso Read MVA govt didnt cooperate on VedantaFoxconn project Maharashtra CM ShindeMoving the VedantaFoxconn semiconductor project to Dholera will not only harm Maharashtra but also the country Sawant allegedThe Congress leader claimed that as per the internal report of Vedanta company Talegaon in Maharashtra was the suitable place for this semiconductor projectA 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 saidEven 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 allegedWhen Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat he had announced many nonfeasible projects in his state and wasted thousands of crores of rupees from the taxpayers money he claimedRecently 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 availabilityInterestingly the Gujarat government had entered into an MoU with this company Sawant saidAccording 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 40000 crore at Dholera But after paying some money for the place it withdrewLashing out at the Eknath Shindeled Maharashtra government for losing the project Sawant said it would have provided employment to the people of Maharashtra and income to the countryThere is a possibility now that project would be stalled for a long time due to the stubborn attitude of the central government Just like Dholera GIFT City project in Gujarat was also stalled International Financial Services Centre which was to come in Maharashtra was moved there as soon as Modi government came to power The financial centre would have brought a huge investment to Maharashtra benefitting all But the central government did not allow it to happen the Congress leader allegedWhen Modi was the chief minister his government forced the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation to take Rs 10000 crore worth of bonds showing that it had found gas reserves No gas was found ultimately and the company became debtridden Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC was forced to buy GSPC by theModi government he saidPM Modi has claimed to have promised Maharashtra a bigger project than Foxconn but the state does not need his grace for such a big project Sawant saidMaharashtra 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 Modis dream of making Gujarat successful by snatching projects from Maharashtra Sawant saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever