While the project, which promises thousands of jobs, comes as a boost for Gujarat ahead of the assembly polls there, for the four-month-old Balasahebanchi Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra, it is yet another blow, that too after industries minister Uday Samant of the Shinde Sena said on September 15 that though the state had lost the Vedanta project, it would secure the Tata-Airbus project to produce military aircraft in Nagpur.
However, on Thursday, Samant told TOI there was no proposal to set up the Tata-Airbus project in Nagpur. “Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was making all-out efforts to secure the project for Nagpur, but he was not successful,” Samant said.
A high-ranking Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation official endorsed Samant’s statement, saying that three years ago, a section of Tata officials had visited MADC’s Nagpur office to seek information on the availability of land at Mihan, Nagpur. “They visited our office on three to four occasions. Subsequently, there was no response, and there was no communication from them on requirement of land,” the official said.
In New Delhi, defence secretary Ajay Kumar said PM Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the transport aircraft manufacturing project for the IAF at Vadodara on October 30 in the presence of defence minister Rajnath Singhcivil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gujarat chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel.
Sixteen aircraft, a PIB release said, will be delivered in flyaway condition and 40 will be manufactured in India by the Indian aircraft contractor, Tata Consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Tata Consultancy Services. This is the first project of its kind in which military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. The aircraft can be used for civilian purposes as well. The new C-295 transport planes will replace the Avro aircraft of the IAF.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray asked on Thursday if industries minister Uday Samant would resign and added that industry had lost faith in the “khoke (boxes) government”.
“Another project! I have voiced this matter since July, asking ‘khoke sarkar’ to try for it (the project). I wonder why every project is going to other states… Will the industry minister resign after losing four projects?” he asked.
Aaditya added, “When Vedanta-Foxconn left Maharashtra, I had told them to try and get Airbus or it will also leave Maharashtra. The industries minister said he will get Airbus. When Subhash Desai was industries minister (in the MVA government), we got investment even in the Covid-19 pandemic. The MVA government had spoken to Airbus. This exit is a big setback. Airbus-Tata was a big deal and we can’t even count the number of jobs lost.”
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP also launched an attack against CM Shinde. NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “After Vedanta, the Tata-Airbus project has gone to Gujarat due to the incompetence of the CM as he has repeatedly failed in retaining key projects in the state. Shinde has surrendered to BJP and is busy protecting his own seat. He must accept his failure and resign immediately.”
While CM Shinde and deputy CM Fadnavis did not respond to TOI’s messages, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye alleged the opposition was making baseless charges. “The MoU with the ministry of defence was signed on September 24, 2021. However, not a single letter was written to the central government (by MVA), nor was the proposal pursued at any level. The opposition is misleading people,” Upadhye said.
Last month, Maharashtra lost the Vedanta-Foxconn project though talks for setting up the unit in Pune district were in the final stages. Vedanta will create nearly one lakh jobs in Gujarat.
Ever since Vedanta-Foxconn had begun talks with the state government on January 5, 2022 for setting up their semiconductor unit in Talegaon, Pune, it was assumed the project would come to Maharashtra. After the official announcement of the project going to Gujarat was made on September 13, a blame game began between the leaders of the previous MVA government and the new government led by Shinde over inept handling of the situation.