'It Was Expected in Maharashtra': Aaditya, Raj Thackeray on Gujarat Chip Plant

Aaditya Thackeray. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

In view of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Gujarat government and Vedanta-Foxconn to set up India's first semiconductor unit in Ahmedabad, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday, 13 September, attacked the Maharashtra government.

"It was almost decided that the plant will come up in Maharashtra," the former state Cabinet minister said.

"Our MVA government had brought this to the final stage. The current dispensation has lost the confidence of potential investors, hence such mega projects are not coming here."

Aaditya Thackeray

Earlier in the day, mining giant Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing firm Foxconn announced its largest ever investment of Rs 1.54 lakh crore into building the plant.

The minister, who served in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra, stressed that the state government had worked extremely hard to try and win the project.

Subsequently on Wednesday evening, Thackeray tweeted, "After Vedanta-Foxconn loss, the Bulk Drug Park that had been meritoriously pursued by the MVA Government, has been lost to 3 States- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh & Himachal Pradesh, by the current unconstitutional dispensation in our State, due to its lack of interest in development."

'Should Go Beyond Politics': Raj Thackeray Demands Probe

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray, too, took to Twitter to ask, "Foxconn-Vedanta's semiconductor manufacturing project moved from Maharashtra to Gujarat. The total investment of this project is 1 lakh 58 thousand crores. This project was to be held at Talegaon near Pune. How did a project with huge employment generation potential escape from Maharashtra?"

He urged the people to 'go beyond politics', and called for a thorough investigation in the matter.

"This is serious. That is why this subject should be thoroughly investigated. Maharashtra was a priority for the investors... We should go beyond politics and look at this issue," he wrote in Marathi.

Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the state, Ajit Pawar, also expressed concern saying that Maharashtra was the first preference for the stakeholders and that the project is being moved 'due to political pressure'.

"This will have a long-term effect on the industrial policy of Maharashtra and for the interest of the state," Pawar wrote in a thread on Twitter.

He added that the Opposition will meet Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to halt the investment that is exiting the state.

What Is the Project?

As per the MoU, the 60:40 joint venture of Vedanta-Foxconn will set up a semiconductor fab unit, a display fab unit, and a semiconductor assembling and testing unit on a 1000-acre land in Gujarat's Ahmedabad district.

"The plant will start production in two years," Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal had told news agency PTI on Tuesday.

Semiconductor chips, or microchips, are essential pieces of many digital consumer products – from cars and mobile phones to ATM cards.

(With inputs from PTI.)