Gujarat wasn't even in competition for Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project, claims Maha opposition leader Danve

Mumbai: A day after Gujarat bagged a mega Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve claimed Gujarat did not have the infrastructure required for it and hence was not even in competition for the project.

"Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka were competing for the Foxconn-Vedanta semiconductor manufacturing plant. It requires a very high-end technology environment, hence these three states were competing with each other,” Shiv Sena leader Danve told a TV channel.

"Gujarat does not have such infrastructure, hence it was not even in the competition. How come a project which requires information technology-related industries around it land in Gujarat?” he wondered.

A joint venture of the Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government on Tuesday to set up a semiconductor and display manufacturing unit in the state.

Vedanta-Foxconn would invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the facility, which would create one lakh job opportunities, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had said after the MoU was signed.

The opposition in Maharashtra had on Tuesday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led government for "losing out" on the big-ticket project.

Danve on Wednesday said he spoke to former Maharashtra industries minister Subhash Desai, who had held discussions with Vedanta and Foxconn officials for setting up the project in the state.

He said during a meeting with Vedanta group Chairman Anil Agarwal in May 2022, the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government (comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) had informed him about providing all clearances for the project.

"However, Agarwal smilingly made a concluding remark that he needs to get the proposal cleared from the Union government as well. His remarks made everybody nervous," Danve claimed.

"Now, we know what was the meaning of that sentence," he added.