Semiconductor Deal Row: NCP Workers Detained on Way to Mantralaya During Protest Against Maha Govt

The political row over Shinde-led Maharashtra government losing the mega semiconductor plant deal escalated on Thursday with workers of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the main opposition outfit in the state, being taken in custody by the Mumbai Police while they were on their way to the Mantralaya to protest in the matter.

Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn jointly inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government on Tuesday in Gandhinagar to set up a mega semiconductor and display manufacturing unit in Gujarat, that the opposition in Maharashtra claims is a “morsel” snatched from state’s mouth.

The opposition in Maharashtra slammed the Eknath Shinde-led government for the state “losing” out on the Rs 1,54,000-crore venture with the Congress alleging something “sinister” behind the change of location and the NCP saying the plant was “snatched” away.

On Thursday, NCP workers were detained while they were on their way to the Mantralaya, administrative headquarters of the Government of Maharashtra, to protest against the state government over the deal slipping out of its hand.

Amid the blame game, chairman of Vedanta Resources Ltd Anil Agarwal said that the company is still committed to investing in Maharashtra.

Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal also cleared the air over company’s decision to sign the deal with Gujarat and said it “chose Gujarat based on “professional and independent advice”.

“We decided on Gujarat few months ago as it met our expectations. But in the July meeting with Maharashtra leadership, they made a huge effort to outbid other states with a competitive offer. We have to start in one place and based on professional and independent advice, we chose Gujarat,” Agarwal said in a tweet.

“We will create a pan-India ecosystem & are fully committed to investing in Maharashtra as well. Maharashtra will be our key to forward integration in our Gujarat JV,” he added.

Responding to Anil Agarwal’s tweet, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the company’s decision to “choose Maharashtra for forward integration”.

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