Tata Airbus aircraft unit: Investors don't have confidence in 'khoke sarkar', taunts Aaditya Thackeray

Aaditya Thackeray. File pic

Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said investors did not have confidence in the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which he referred to as "khoke sarkar", and that was resulting in projects moving out of the state.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader slammed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying after taking charge in June he was busy addressing political gatherings instead of visiting other states seeking investments.

He was speaking to reporters here in the backdrop of Airbus and a Tata consortium choosing Vadodara in Gujarat as the site for its Rs 22,000 crore project to build C-295 military aircraft.

"This is the fourth project that has gone out of Maharashtra. I saw the state industry minister's (Uday Samant) statement on the issue this morning. It seems the way he was unaware on Vedanta-Foxconn (which too moved its semiconductor project to Gujarat from Pune), he is unaware about the Tata Airbus project," Thackeray alleged.

Also read: Aaditya Thackeray slams Shinde govt, says industry has no faith in Khoke govt

The previous Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had set up an 'ease of compliance' committee to get such projects but one wonders if the panel has even met once in the last three months (since the Shinde-BJP government took over in June), he added.

"We can see industrialists do not have confidence in this 'khoke sarkar' (government formed out of bribery worth crores of rupees as alleged by the Sena's Uddhav Thackeray faction) and that is why every investment which was supposed to come to Maharashtra is now moving to other states," he alleged.

Hitting out at the chief minister, Thackeray said he was busy visiting 'mandals' (groups which set up Lord Ganesh pandalsl), Dahi Handi events and addressing political gatherings instead of visiting other states seeking investments for Maharashtra.

"Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik came to Maharashtra seeking investments. Show me one instance when our chief minister went out for the same," Thackeray said.

He said the MVA government had managed to get Rs 6.50 lakh crore worth of investments even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with 99 per cent of these memorandums of understanding (MoUs) getting executed.

"However, despite having the same governments at the Centre and the state (BJP is part of Shinde-led administration), why is one engine (referring to the state dispensation) continuously failing? In May, we managed to get investments from the World Economic Forum in Davos," the former minister said.

It showed the coordination between the Centre and the then-MVA coalition was good, while the "traitor government" (a term often used by the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena to describe the Shinde regime), is failing, he claimed.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) ally Congress alleged Maharashtra's economic interests are being undermined by the Centre.

Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant said it was the Modi government's wish that all important projects should go to Gujarat.

"The Tata Airbus project was shown the Dholera site in Gujarat by the Centre but it is going to Vadodara. This proves my point that Dholera (in Ahmedabad district) is an impractical site. It is the Modi government's wish that all projects should go to Gujarat. Maharashtra's (prospects) are being consciously damaged," tweeted Sawant.

He said BJP leaders do not have the courage to confront the Modi government about financial losses being caused to Maharashtra.

"The Industries Minister (Uday Samant) said the MOU (for military aircraft project) was signed a year ago, but that was between the Centre and Airbus and not with Gujarat?" he said in another tweet.

He said ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel has announced an investment of Rs 60,000 crore in Gujarat and the Prime Minister on Friday virtually attended the 'bhoomi pujan' of the expansion project of the company's flagship plant at Hazira in Surat district.

"The company has a plant in Talegaon (near Pune city). The company, in an advertisement in newspapers, has made it clear that the reason behind the investment (in Gujarat) is Modiji's vision," the Congress leader said.

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