Govt blames MVA for Vedanta Foxconn’s exit

Industries minister Uday Samant tabled the paper, which alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government did not take the requisite steps to attract the Vedanta Foxconn investment, and when the Shinde-led government tried to lure the tech giant, the company decided to invest in Gujarat

Mumbai: The state government, in its white paper tabled in the state legislature on Thursday, blamed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the exit of the Vedanta Foxconn last year.

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Industries minister Uday Samant tabled the paper, which alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government did not take the requisite steps to attract the Vedanta Foxconn investment, and when the Shinde-led government tried to lure the tech giant, the company decided to invest in Gujarat.

“Vedanta Group of Companies submitted its expression of interest on January 5, 2022. The state replied to it on January 19. On May 6, the company executives met the industries minister (Subhash Desai) and environment minister (Aaditya Thackeray) followed by an official proposal submitted on May 14. In July (after the Shinde government came to power), Foxconn chairman Young Liu was invited to visit Pune,” the paper stated.

It further states that Akarsh Hebbar, managing director of the company, met chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 26. “Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) invited the company for a memorandum of understanding via a letter written in September, however, Agarwal on September 13 announced their MoU with Gujarat. We had no MoU signed with the company, and thus, it would not be appropriate to say that we lost the project,” the paper added.