SHINDE CALLS PM NARENDRA MODI AMIDST ONSLAUGHT OVER LOST INVESTMENTS

Mumbai: The political attack by opposition formations in Maharashtra over the finalization of Gujarat as the intended investment destination of the ambitious Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture continued for the second consecutive day. It prompted Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to exercise a hotline phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A person familiar with the development said, “Maharashtra CM Shinde reached out to the PM in the wake of the controversy that has broken out. He was assured that similar investments on scale with Vedanta-Foxconn will soon be housed in Maharashtra also.”

Coincidentally, Vedanta Chairman, Anil Agarwal, was quoted in a Twitter post stating that his conglomerate would build a manufacturing hub for iPhones and TV equipment, in Maharashtra. He also termed it “a forward integration for the Gujarat JV plant.” Meanwhile, after Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray claimed that a bulk drugs park was also diverted to Gujarat, a secretariat official cleared the air. “The BDP project proposal to attract Government of India (GoI) funding under the Centre scheme was distinct from the private investment project by Vedanta-Foxconn,” he said. “Around 20 states of India including, Maharashtra (Raigad), Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka (Bangalore), Madhya Pradesh (Indore), Chattisgarh that already boast of pharmaceutical clusters were seeking GoI capital funding to set up a BDP under the existing Centre scheme. Of the proposals submitted, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and another state secured sanction,” the official noted. He added that it was up to the Centre to affirm proposals submitted by various states seeking a collaborative effort from the Union government.

“The fact is that Maharashtra represents 25% of the pharmaceutical production in India and accounts for 40% of pharma exports annually. These other states may have touched the 5% level of production capacities at best recently. GoI’s assent to BDPs there may have been aimed at building up their capabilities through an ecosystem for the same. Maharashtra already enjoys an ecosystem in the pharma sector and can even set up its own BDP in Raigad under its own state government schemes,” asserted the official. He added that similarly, Maharashtra is pursuing an Electronics Park as well as a Textile Park under GoI schemes, and other states have also put their hats in the ring for joint funding for these projects.