Maharashtra Loses One More Deal To Gujarat, Thackeray Faction Blames Shinde Government

Mumbai, 28th October 2022: Maharashtra has reportedly lost another major investment deal to Gujarat. An aeroplane manufacturing unit worth Rs 22,000 crore is going to be set up in Gujarat. The Uddhav faction says that earlier this manufacturing unit was to be established in Maharashtra. Now, the Uddhav faction is attacking Shinde and the BJP regarding this issue. The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena and Congress criticized the Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, questioning how the project got out of hand in Maharashtra. Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said that investors do not have faith in the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government.

Speaking to NDTV, Uddhav faction spokesperson Arvind Sawant said, “Ridiculous and false excuses are being made now.” He said the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government is a “slave” of the BJP, which has a majority in the ruling coalition. “The way they have been working in the past and present shows that the Center and the BJP are against Maharashtra,” claimed Lok Sabha member Sawant.

He said that Maharashtra is the most favourable state for the development of projects. Mumbai is the financial capital of India. Still, they want to damage its image. Apart from the Tata-Airbus project, he also mentioned the Vedanta-Foxconn deal to manufacture semiconductor chips. It is worth noting that last month, after the announcement of Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn to set up a joint semiconductor project in Gujarat, a round of allegations and counter-accusations started in Maharashtra. Earlier, this project was to be set up near Pune city.

The spokesperson of the Uddhav faction said, “PM (Narendra Modi) had said that a big project will be given to Maharashtra… we have no complaint against Gujarat. We want it to develop as well. But is there no other state in the country?” He said that it seems that this is happening because of the elections in Gujarat due by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant on Friday claimed that the deal to set up the Tata-Airbus C-295 transport aircraft project in Gujarat was signed by the Center in September last year when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power in the state. The state industries minister also criticized the opposition for creating “confusion” over the project. Samant said the MoU for setting up an aircraft manufacturing unit in Gujarat was signed by the Center in September 2021.

“Whether it is the Vedanta-Foxconn project or the Tata-Airbus project, the decision on where to set up these projects was taken before this (Eknath Shinde-led) government came to power in the state in June,” he said. The opposition is doing nothing but creating confusion among the people.”

Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said investors do not have faith in the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and hence projects are going out of the state. Taking a jibe at the Maharashtra government, Thackeray said that investors do not have faith in the ‘Khoke Sarkar’.

Hitting out at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader said that after taking charge in June, he is busy addressing political gatherings instead of going to other states for investment. He was speaking to reporters here in the backdrop of the Airbus and Tata consortium selecting Vadodara in Gujarat for the Rs 22,000-crore project to build the C-295 military aircraft.