NCP chief and former union minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that the Vedanta Foxconn project should not have gone to Gujarat but now Maharashtra has lost it. ‘’The project will not come back so stop the discussion and start a new to attract new investments in the state,’’ he asserted.
‘’Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Industry Minister Uday Samant who were ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government have blamed it for not striking the deal in time. This does not augur well on their part,’’ said Pawar.
Pawar said the Prime Minister’s assurance to Maharashtra that he will get a bigger project than the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant was akin to trying to “convince a child”.
He said the mega project was originally envisaged to come up at Talegaon near Pune city, which already has an automobile hub near Chakan. It would have been good for the company (Vedanta-Foxconn) had the plant come up at Talegaon, he added.
Pawar said that Maharashtra has been top among other states to attract investments but added the situation seems to have changed as the state is no longer a leader in attracting investments due to the state leadership. ‘’Looking at the present situation, the question arises whether the rulers are paying due attention to the state. Although the Shinde Fadnavis government assumed the office on June 30, I have not yet seen the administration on the move,’’ he added.
However, the union minister Narayan Rane targeted NCP chief Sharad Pawar claiming that in the three-party rule there was no conducive environment for the industry. ‘’There is no point criticising the Shinde Fadnavis government. We are capable of handling such issues and attracting more investments in the state,’’ he said.
Rane has hinted that he along with the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a plea that the Vedanta Foxconn project remains in the state.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition Ajit Pawar also slammed the state government saying that the government should pay attention to getting new projects so that more jobs are created in the state.
