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Journalism of Courage
Following Vedanta-Foxconn’s decision to shift their proposed semiconductor plant from Maharashtra to Gujarat, the Maharashtra BJP finds itself dealing with a political hot potato, unable to explain why the state lost out on a project that would have created thousands of jobs.
State unit insiders said the discontent within the outfit over the decision was palpable. A senior Cabinet minister, requesting anonymity, said, “Today, Gujarat needs a big ticket project to enhance the political fortunes of the BJP in the Assembly elections ahead (scheduled for 2024). Our only fear is an anti-Maharashtra image of the BJP should not snowball into a political momentum for the Maha Vikas Aghadi.”
The Maharashtra BJP leadership has already started brainstorming to chalk out a plan to build a new narrative. Among the plans that the state unit has thought of is expediting the proposed green refinery, expected to be Asia’s first such plant, in Ratnagiri district’s Nanar area. BJP leaders said the proposed investment of Rs 3.5 lakh crore and the projected creation of one lakh jobs in the backward Konkan region dwarf the Rs 1.5 lakh crore semiconductor plant that Vedanta and Foxconn proposed to build near Pune.
“Look, Vedanta-Foxconn was only Rs 1.5 lakh crore investment. Here we have a much larger Rs 3 lakh investment project in the pipeline,” said a BJP insider. “The BJP has taken a huge beating with Vedanta-Foxconn’s exit and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is under tremendous pressure. On one hand, he has to walk the script written by Modi and Shah as the Gujarat polls are sacrosanct. On the other hand, he has to ensure that the BJPs anti-Maharashtra image does not take hold in public memory.”
A Fadnavis loyalist and state BJP office-bearer said, “He has to face the flak for the central leadership. Whether it was the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where the central leadership wanted a pre-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena or the Vedanta-Foxconn project, the central leadership has always safeguarded its own interests at the cost of Maharashtra.”
Another BJP functionary said, “All the spade work for the prize catch Rs 1.5 lakh crore semiconductor plant at Talegaon was in its final stages. The deputy CM dashed a formal letter to Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal on July 14. It was followed by a separate letter from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on July 26.”
As reported by The Indian Express, Shinde referred to Vedanta’s twin requests in his letter to Agarwal and said, “… (your) two key requests from the state are to seek central government alignment and cabinet approval. You will be pleased to know that on both fronts, the state is already in advanced stages and is moving ahead expeditiously.”
According to a BJP leader who requested anonymity, “Maharashtra was the preferred destination and this came across clearly during the meeting and discussion which preceded the letter to Vedanta-Foxconn.”
Disclosing how the negotiations between the Shinde administration and the conglomerate went, a source in the BJP said, “On July 26, the Managing Director of Vedanta Global, Arya Hebbar, and a delegation under his leadership met the chief minister and the deputy chief minister and gave a presentation about the project. At the end of the presentation, the delegation said the company was keen to invest in Talegaon in Pune. They preferred Pune over other places due to the availability of skilled manpower, industry-friendly environment, connectivity to Mumbai and JNPT ports, strong value chain and modern infrastructure. Shinde and Fadnavis reassured the company about the government’s full cooperation and incentives to take forward the project.”
The state government expressed its readiness to provide Vedanta with all the incentives it demanded, including facilities such as capital subsidy of up to 30 per cent of investment, discounts up to 35 per cent on the land cost, 25 per cent discount on water and electricity tariff for 15 years, discount on stamp duty, excellent quality and uninterrupted power supply and water supply.
On August 5, Fadnavis met Agarwal and urged him that Vedanta keep the project in Maharashtra and not consider any other state. A month later, on September 5, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s (MIDC) chief executive officer Dr P Anbalagan mailed a letter to Agarwal, requesting Vedanta to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Industries Department.
Defending Shinde and Fadnavis, senior BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “Maharashtra had always been a leader when it came to attracting maximum investments both foreign and domestic. And CM and deputy CM will initiate right steps for the state’s welfare.”
Earlier, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar claimed that both Shinde and Fadnavis had aggressively pursued Vedanta to keep the project in Maharashtra and that “it would be wrong to question the state government”.
A BJP MLA from Vidarbha said, “Everybody knows why Vedanta-Foxconn has gone to Gujarat. As BJP, we are one. It is Maharashtra’s duty to ensure that the BJP wins the Gujarat polls. At the same time, the Centre will also initiate some strong investment measures to help Maharashtra if it is found that things are going against BJP in the state ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.”
