Three-member committee to probe why mega-projects proposed for Maharashtra chose other destinations

State Industries Minister Uday Samant said that a ‘White Paper’ will be released in the next 60 days to disclose information on the industrial investment received by the State

The Shinde-Fadnavis government has been under fire from Opposition parties, who have alleged that the Vedanta-Foxconn mega-project was moved to Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections.  | Photo Credit: PTI

Cornered by Opposition parties over big-ticket industrial projects going out of Maharashtra in the last three-four months, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government has decided to form a three-member committee led by a retired High Court judge to probe the reasons for the flight.

State Industries Minister Uday Samant on Wednesday said that a ‘White Paper’ will be released in the next 60 days to disclose information on the industrial investment received by the State.

The committee, which will have two retired bureaucrats as the other members, will bring out the facts in the matter, and all doubts over employment-generating mega projects choosing other States over Maharashtra, which is in the minds of youth, will be cleared through the detailed investigation, he said.

“In the next 60 days, the panel will probe how did the projects go out of State, when were the meetings held, and when the Memorandum of Understandings were signed. The panel will also see the minutes of the meetings,” he said.

The ‘White Paper’ will also discuss the investments that took place during two-and-a-half years of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Since September, when Vedanta-Foxconn decided to set up their ₹1.54 lakh crore semiconductor unit in Gujarat instead of their proposed plan for Talegoan near Pune, the Shinde-Fadnavis government has been under fire from Opposition parties, who have alleged that the mega-project was moved to Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections.

Vedanta-Foxconn Unit | Why was Gujarat chosen over Maharashtra?

The Opposition also targeted the government for losing four other key projects — a ‘Bulk Drug Park’, the Tata-Airbus military aircraft manufacturing unit, a ‘Medical Device Park’, and a ‘Renewable Energy Hub’.

Shiv Sena leader and former Minister Aaditya Thackeray too lashed out on Tuesday at the current dispensation over losing the big-ticket projects.

“A negative atmosphere is being made for politics that these projects preferred destinations other than Maharashtra only after Mr. Shinde became Chief Minister. But by ignoring their allegations, the issue must be probed, so we have decided to constitute a committee,” Mr. Samanth said.