Pune loser as Vedanta picks Gujarat over Maharashtra

Along with politicians, industrialists and others have expressed disappointment over mining giant Vedanta Ltd

Along with politicians, industrialists and others have expressed disappointment over mining giant Vedanta Ltd.’s selection of Gujarat over Maharashtra for setting up its semiconductor manufacturing facility as part of its $20 billion joint-venture with Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, Foxconn.

Earlier in July, Vedanta along with Foxconn had met Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for investment in the proposed manufacturing facility which was expected to generate nearly 200,000 jobs (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Earlier in July, Vedanta along with Foxconn had met Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for investment in the proposed manufacturing facility which was expected to generate nearly 200,000 jobs. The plant was likely to come up at Talegaon in Pune district.

Maratha Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) director Prashant Girbane said, “It is sad that Maharashtra lost the opportunity to host such a large, futuristic manufacturing facility. Maharashtra needs to further increase its efforts to attract investments. We would be glad to continue to support the efforts of the state government.”

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil said, “The BJP seems to be more keen on guarding the interests of Gujarat given that there are elections there.”

Maharashtra Congress leader Satyajeet Tambe urged the Dy. CM to look into the matter and bring the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant project back to Maharashtra. “Such a project has never been implemented in the entire world except in Korea, not even in China. The Vedanta group was bringing this technology for the first time where Maharashtra had the opportunity to generate thousands of jobs and ancillary units, which would have further generated opportunities for the youth. This is a huge blow for Maharashtra’s youth and yet another betrayal of the people of Maharashtra. This failure is pushing their future into the dark. Devendra Fadnavis must try his best and ensure that the project is brought back to Maharashtra,” said Tambe.

On September 29 last year, Tambe had written to cabinet minister Piyush Goyal, urging him to help set up a semiconductor facility in Nashik. He had expressed regret over the lack of semiconductor facilities in India and had stated that the government was paying ‘micro’ attention to such a ‘macro’ matter.

According to Tambe, Vedanta required 1,000 acre of land free-of-cost on a 99-year lease and water and power at concessionary and fixed prices for 20 years. The manufacturing unit was expected to bring in nearly 2 lakh jobs and Talegaon, Pune, was the preferred location due to its infrastructure and availability of skilled manpower.