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Sounak Mukhopadhyay

Gujarat is our brother: Devendra Fadnavis defends losing Foxconn-Vedanta project

Maharashtra Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis  (HT) (HT_PRINT)

Also Read: Gujarat's chip plant row: A letter, Vedanta's demands and CM Shinde's response

Fadnavis singled out the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena without mentioning the group specifically for rejecting high-profile initiatives like the Ratnagiri refinery and the Wadhwan port in Palghar, as well as the Mumbai Metro phase 3 and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. When he first assumed the position of deputy chief minister, he met with Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal. The state gave the business a custom offer to compete with Gujarat's, but Fadnavis claimed he was informed that a decision to relocate the project to the neighbouring state was about to be made.

“The decision was taken even before we came to power. When we came to power, we tried every bit. The ones who did nothing are pointing fingers at us," Fadnavis said.

Also Read: Vedanta picks Gujarat for $20 billion India semiconductor foray

Maharashtra underperformed Gujarat in drawing foreign investment during the MVA administration, but Fadnavis said that Maharashtra will catch up to Gujarat in the next two years.

"Gujarat is no Pakistan. It is our brother. This is a healthy competition. We want to get ahead of Karnataka, everyone," Fadnavis said.

Maharashtra could hardly beat Gujarat with the opposition's "stop everything" strategy, he claimed. When he served as chief minister from 2014 to 2019, according to Fadnavis, the amount of foreign investment in the state increased from $6 billion in 2013 to $26 billion.

Also Read: No immediate impact on Vedanta credit profile after $20 bn chip project: Moody’s

Unfortunately, Gujarat topped the list and increased its investment from $3 billion to $23 billion over the past two years while Maharashtra saw a decrease in investment from $26 billion to $18 billion, according to the deputy CM.

By just making remarks, one cannot defeat the neighbouring state, according to Fadnavis. Instead, policies are required. Additionally, he claimed that any subsidy under the MVA's rule required the payment of commission.

Also Read: Make in Odisha: Vedanta pumps in another 25,000 crore investment

In the last two years, a 10% commission had to be paid for each stated subsidy. From 2014 until 2019, no money was required. He stated, without mentioning the MVA in particular.

According to Fadnavis, the projected refinery in Ratnagiri was intended to be three times as large as the Jamnagar refinery, which - along with the Mundra port - is also important components of Gujarat's economy. But, he added that Maharashtra had missed out on an opportunity because of the time lost due to opposition to the project.

(With PTI inputs)

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