Opposition Claims Tata C295 Project Diverted From Maharashtra, BJP Hits Back – News18

Last Updated:October 28, 2024, 22:03 IST

The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) launched a blistering attack on the ruling Mahayuti and said the Maharashtra government was doing nothing to stop this “ill-treatment”

The Tata-Airbus C295 project was inaugurated in Vadodara by PM Narendra Modi and Spain President Pedro Sanchez on October 28. (Image: PTI)

Plum projects, like the Tata C295 aircraft manufacturing facility, were being diverted from Maharashtra to benefit Gujarat in a “wholesale surrender” of the states interests, said opposition parties in the poll-bound state.

The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) launched a blistering attack on the ruling Mahayuti and said the state government was doing nothing to stop this “ill-treatment” as important projects were being “snatched away”.

The BJP, however, hit back at the opposition calling their statements “unadulterated trash” and blamed the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led regime for the apathy shown to Maharashtra by investors.

The opposition parties claimed that the aircraft facility, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Vadodara on Monday, was to be set up at Nagpur. They alleged that the location was moved to Gujarat under the prime minister and the Centre’s directions, while the Mahayuti government conspired to ensure this.

What did the opposition parties say?

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the people of Maharashtra will give a “befitting reply” to Modi and his colleagues for “betraying the state” in the upcoming assembly elections. He claimed that the project was supposed to be set up in Nagpur, but was moved to Gujarat before the assembly polls in that state in 2022.

“Due to which Maharashtra was deprived of this important investment. One can certainly imagine the politics behind the scenes for that,” he said in a post on X.

“This is not an exception. Under the non-biological PM’s leadership and instruction, the Union Government and the Mahayuti government have conspired to ensure the wholesale surrender of Maharashtra’s interests in landing new projects or seeking central support,” he wrote.

Listing out some other examples of so-called poaching and diversions, Ramesh said the Congress and and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) believe in “equal development of the entire country without prejudice”. “…New infrastructure projects, special investment zones and modern industries should benefit not just the state but all Indians. During Gujarat’s period of industrialization in the 1970s and 80s, projects such as Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (GSFC), Gujarat Refinery and IPCL were not poached from other states but newly established,” he added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi echoed the criticism and said all such projects coming to Maharashtra were “snatched away” and the Tata project was simply an example of how the state is being “ill-treated”.

“The inauguration (TATA Aircraft Complex for manufacturing C-295 aircraft) by the Prime Minister in Vadodara is a living example of how Maharashtra has been ill-treated. All the projects that were coming to Maharashtra were snatched away from them…The project which would have benefitted lakhs of our youth and created employment was taken away from Maharashtra,” she told news agency ANI.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, she said “two chief ministers are working for Gujarat”. “…The Mahayuti government only believes in staying in power not for the benefit of the public…” she added.