Maharashtra’s offer better than Gujarat’s says Opposition after Vedanta-Foxconn move
The Maharashtra government had offered a capital subsidy of around ₹40,000 crore as against the ₹28,000 crore subsidy offered by Gujarat government
Mumbai Vedanta-Foxconn’s decision to set up its 20 billion USD semiconductor unit in Gujarat instead of Maharashtra despite being in advanced negotiations with the state government in Mumbai, has led to questions about the specific offers made by the respective state governments for the joint venture.
It is the opposition’s contention that Maharashtra had offered a better package as incentive to set up the country’s first semiconductor-production plant in Talegaon near Pune. At the July 27 meeting between Vedanta-Foxconn delegation and CM Shinde and deputy CM Fadnavis, the Maharashtra government had offered a capital subsidy of around ₹40,000 crore as against the ₹28,000 crore subsidy offered by Gujarat government.
“Until last month, Talegaon phase-4, where we offered them a 1100-acre land parcel, was the preferred location for Vedanta-Foxconn,” said a senior bureaucrat in the industries department. Other than Gujarat and Maharashtra the consortium had also held preliminary talks with the governments of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Their consultants studied over 100 points including air connectivity, availability of skilled workers, availability of contiguous land parcels and almost zeroed in on Maharashtra’s offer over Gujarat’s, he said.
According to the figures made available by the state’s industries department, other than the capital subsidy of ₹40,000 crore, Maharashtra government had offered 1100 acres of land at Talegaon industrial area phase-IV in Pune district. Of these, 400 acres were offered free of cost, while remaining the 700 acres were offered at 75% rate of industrial land. As per the July 22 MIDC presentation, Gujarat was offering Vedanta-Foxconn 200 acres of land at 75% rate. Maharashtra government had offered 1200 MW of electricity at ₹3 per unit for 20 years, against Gujarat’s offer of ₹2 a unit for 10 years. The waiver offered on the electricity duty by Maharashtra was 7.5%. Both the states had offered subsidised stamp duty on transactions with a 5% waiver. Besides, Maharashtra had offered water subsidy worth ₹337 crore and subsidy of ₹812 crore for liquid waste management.
It is not known if the Gujarat government subsequently changed its offer. On September 5, in a series of tweets, Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal spoke about the discussion on the semiconductor plant he had with Prime Minister Modi. “As always, very motivating to meet our Hon. PM @narendramodi ji. Discussed at length the energy security for India, along with the Vedanta FAB and #Semiconductor project,” he tweeted.
On Wednesday, chief minister Eknath Shinde alleged that the JV had moved to Gujarat on account of the previous MVA government’s failure to offer concrete incentives. “After we came to power, we had a meeting with Anil Agrawal of Vedanta, we gave them the offer with subsidies amounting to about ₹39,000 crore. However, they chose the other state. Their experience of dealing with the previous government was not encouraging,” he said.
During the July 27 meeting with CM Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the representatives of the two companies had said that they were planning to set up the project in three phases in Maharashtra. In the first phase, a display fabrication unit was to be set up with an investment of ₹1 lakh crore. The second phase would be to set up a manufacturing unit of semiconductors with an investment of ₹63,000 crore and in the last phase, semiconductor assembling and testing facilities were to be installed by investing an additional ₹3,800 crore, said state officials in the industries department privy to the meeting.
Shiv Sena leader and former industries minister Subhash Desai responded to CM Shinde’s comments and said the MVA government’s meeting with top executives of Vedanta and Foxconn in Delhi on June 25 had almost finalised the terms of the MoU. “Both companies had agreed to the package of ₹40,000 crore offered by us and we were to have another meeting July but then our government was toppled. The subsequent government should have taken the talks to the logical end,” he said.
Leader of opposition and NCP leader Ajit Pawar wrote a letter to CM Shinde on Wednesday, requesting him to still make the effort to ensure that the project is not shifted to Gujarat. “It is an attempt to snatch investment from Maharashtra and make it economically backward. The state government had finalized a 1100- acre plot at Talegaon near Pune and a team from the Vedanta Group in its recommendation had also said that the plot is appropriate for the project…Dholera stands nowhere in comparison to the ecosystem and connectivity present at Talegaon,” said Pawar in his letter.
After the political uproar following the MoU with Gujarat government, Anil Agarwal clarified that they will keep a hub in Maharashtra as well. “We are committed to invest in Maharashtra. We will soon create a hub where Maharashtra will be a part of our forward integration,” he tweeted.
