Opposition corners Shinde government as Tata-Airbus project moves Gujarat
What's the story
The opposition parties in Maharashtra hit out at the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government for losing the multi-crore Tata-Airbus contract to Gujarat. The joint venture announced on Thursday that its transport aircraft manufacturing facility for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will come up in Vadodara, Gujarat. Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray took a dig at the Sinde government calling it "khoke sarkar" referring to corruption.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Last month, Vedanta and Foxconn announced their plan to set up a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Gujarat after requesting 1,000 acres of land free of cost on a 99-year lease. In July, the project was reported to be set up in Maharashtra with an investment of over Rs. 1.58 lakh crore which would have created one lakh jobs in the state.
Information
Total cost of the project is Rs. 21,935 crore
Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Thursday, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar announced that Tata's defense arm, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and European multinational aerospace giant, Airbus will jointly manufacture C-295 transport aircraft for the IAF in Vadodara. Taking a swipe at the Shinde-led Maharashtra government, Thackeray said, "a loss of faith in khoke sarkar is evident on the industry level".
Twitter Post
Loss of faith in government, claimed Thackeray
Another project!
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 27, 2022
I have voiced this since July, asking Khoke Sarkar to try for it. I wonder why every project is going to other states in the last 3 months. Loss of faith in khoke sarkar is evident on industry level.
Will the industry minister resign after losing 4 projects? https://t.co/vywZcuPcfh
Statements
State's engine failure in double-engine government: Thackeray
Thackeray said the government boasts of having a double-engine government, however, the state's engine has failed to deliver. He asked if the minister of industries would resign after losing four projects to other states. Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had made Shinde Maharashtra's Chief Minister only to hand over the state's mega-projects to Gujarat.
Twitter Post
The Shinde government has lost 4 projects, alleged Opposition
Vedanta Foxconn
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) October 27, 2022
Medical Device Park
Bulk Drugs Park and now
Tata Airbus….
All out of Maharashtra thanks to ५० खोके sarkar.
Clarification
MoU signed between companies and Centre: Industries minister
Minister of Industries, Uday Samant said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the companies and the Centre in September 2021. Hinting at the Opposition, Samant said some leaders were misguiding people by spreading lies about the project shifting from Maharashtra to Gujarat. Although, he accepted saying in an interview that he would try to bring the project back to Nagpur.