Mumbai: Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary Sachin Sawant on Thursday joined the opposition chorus against shifting of Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project out of Maharashtra to Gujarat, and said that shifting out Vedanta-Foxconn to infeasible Dholera will harm the country.
Mr Sawant claimed that despite earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s offer for a better package than Gujarat, the Vedanta Foxconn project has been moved to Dholera “under pressure from the central government”. “Since Dholera is inconvenient place, many companies including I. S. M. C. Digital which proposed manufacturing semiconductors just like Vedanta Foxconn have chosen to withdraw from the same place,” the Congress leader alleged. Mr Sawant said moving Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductor Project to Dholera will not only harm Maharashtra but also the country.
वेदांता फॉक्सकॉन सेमीकंडक्टर प्रकल्प ढोलेराला नेण्याने महाराष्ट्राचेच नव्हे तर देशाचेही नुकसान होणार आहे pic.twitter.com/tuu7bkW65t
— Sachin Sawant सचिन सावंत (@sachin_inc) September 15, 2022
According to the internal report of Vedanta Company, Talegaon in Maharashtra was the suitable place for this semiconductor project, Sachin Sawant said, adding: “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. Even though Maharashtra had offered many concessions including more capital subsidy than Gujarat, the decision to move the said project to Dholera has been made only under the pressure of the central government.”
The Congress leader alleged that when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he announced many non-feasible projects in the state and wasted thousands of crores of taxpayer’s money.
“Recently, three companies applied when the proposal was invited for semiconductor manufacturing with an estimated investment of $10 billion in the country. One of them, I. S. M. C. Digital (ISMC Digital) company was supposed to come at Dholera. This ISMC digital has now fled from Dholera due to lack of facilities and water availability. Interestingly, Gujarat government had entered into a memorandum of understanding with this company,” Mr Sawant said.
Further listing out companies that have quit the Dholera, Mr Sawant said: “There is a possibility now that project would be stalled for a long time due to stubborn attitude of the central government. Just like Dholera, Gift City project 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 in Maharashtra benefitting all. But the central government did not allow it to happen.”
Sachin Sawant said that when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister, the Gujarat government forced the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation to take Rs 10,000 crore (₹10,000) worth of bonds, showing that it had found gas reserves. “No gas was found ultimately and the company became debt ridden. ONGC was forced to buy GSPC by Modi government,” he added.
PM Modi has claimed to have promised Maharashtra a bigger project than Foxconn but the state does not need Narendra Modi’s grace 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 fulfill Modi’s dream of making Gujarat successful by snatching projects from Maharashtra,” the MPCC General secretary said.
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