Tata-Airbus project controversy: Opposition ups the ante, ruling parties blame MVA again

Samant told a local news channel last month that the government was in talks with the Centre to bring the ₹22,000 crore project to Nagpur

Mumbai: The opposition continued its attack on the four-month-old Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government a day after the Centre announced that the Tata-Airbus joint venture to manufacture C295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force would come up in Gujarat, even as state industries minister Uday Samant clarified on Friday that the location for the facility was decided last September itself when the Centre signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with European Defence major Airbus Defence and Space S.A.

Uday Samant clarified on Friday that the location for the facility was decided last September itself when the Centre signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with European Defence major Airbus Defence and Space S.A (HT Photo)

Samant told a local news channel last month that the government was in talks with the Centre to bring the ₹22,000 crore project to Nagpur.

However, on Friday, Samant admitted that he had made the statement without knowing that the location had already been decided. He also blamed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for not doing anything to bring the project to the state.

“I am not denying that I made the statement over bringing the Airbus-Tata project to Maharashtra but after going in detail I came to know that there is not a single document available in the government that proves that the erstwhile MVA government made a single attempt to bring it here,” Samant said.

Last October, former food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal wrote a letter to former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata, requesting him to consider setting up the C-295 manufacturing facility project in Nashik. Bhujbal was the guardian minister of Nashik district at the time.

“I would like to humbly request you to consider manufacturing of Defense airplanes in the joint venture at Hal, Ojhar situated at Nashik as the complete infrastructure is already in place. This will help expedite the manufacturing activities,” the letter dated October 31, 2021, stated.

When asked for a comment on the political controversy, Shinde, who attended a special meeting of United Nation Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Committee at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel on Friday, left the media interaction.

This was the fourth major project that Maharashtra has lost to the poll-bound neighbouring state after the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project, a bulk drug park and a medical devices park, leading the opposition to claim that Shinde’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was hurting the state. The opposition parties contend that the loss of these projects meant that the state’s youth were losing out on lakhs of job opportunities.

The NCP youth wing said it will hold a statewide agitation against big-ticket investment projects going out of Maharashtra.

Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said the CM was preoccupied with political games and celebrating festivals rather than focusing on issues like bringing investment into Maharashtra.

“First, Vedanta Foxconn went to Gujarat. A bulk drug park was taken away to Gujarat. We were hopeful about the ₹22,000 crore project of Tata Airbus but that too has gone to Gujarat. Why have all the big projects from Maharashtra been shifted to Gujarat in a short span of three to four months? Is it sheer coincidence? I feel that the aim behind setting up the Shinde-Fadnavis government is to take projects smoothly away from Maharashtra,” former industries minister and Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai said.

NCP leader and MP Supriya Sule questioned the timing of the announcement and said it was related to the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat.

“It cannot be denied. If it was just one thing then we could have understood but it is going on again and again and a question comes to our mind that there is something fishy,” Sule said.

“It is clear that Shinde-Fadnavis are traitors of Maharashtra as they are working in Gujarat’s interest against Maharashtra,” state Congress president Nana Patole said. Other projects like the International Financial Centre and Diamond Bourse in Mumbai and the Marine Academy in Palghar were also diverted to Gujarat during the tenure of previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government, Patole said.

Samant said that the government will release a white paper on many jobs have been generated and how many people have been made self-reliant after the government completes a year. In a face-saving measure, he also reiterated that a big project equivalent to ₹1.54 lakh crore Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor facility, also to come up in Gujarat, will come to Maharashtra. “It would be improper to declare its details at this stage and it will come in the next few months,” he added.

In September 2021, the Union defence ministry and M/s Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain, signed a contract according to which 56 C-295 aircraft were to be manufactured. A consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space are to manufacture 40 planes in India within 10 years while Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in fly away condition from Spain within two years. The total cost of the project is ₹21,935 crore.

(With inputs from Yogesh Naik and Dhaval Kulkarni)

Gadkari writes to Tata seeking investment in Vidarbha region

On October 7, Union transport and highways minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari wrote a letter to Tata Sons inviting the Indian conglomerate to invest in Nagpur. In the letter addressed to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons Limited, Gadkari said that the group’s investment in various sectors could ensure faster growth of the group’s business and support Vidarbha’s development.

Though the letter has no reference of the Tata-Airbus project, Gadkari has said that the group has ample opportunities in various sectors including IT, ITes , automobiles, FMCGs among others.

“Group airlines like Air India, Vistara and AirAsia can cut costs by making Nagpur Airport a hub for operations and night parking. The group can also consider more MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facilities at the Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur-(MIHAN) and plan large warehousing for aviation spares,” the letter stated.

Significantly, the Shinde-Fadnavis government was also seeking the Centre’s help to set up the Tata-Airbus project at MIHAN.

“The Tata Group of companies can enjoy the strength of Nagpur like overnight connectivity with 350 districts of six states at lower rate of land, manpower and warehousing etc. The excellent connectivity by road, rail and air proves to be a greater advantage for the industries. The state government has created special economic zone in MIHAN with ample land for industrial set up. The Tata group has the suitable land available to expand their businesses by leveraging the excellent infrastructure of MIHAN and Nagpur,” the letter stated.