Maharashtra government to bring white paper on mega projects going to other states

The Maharashtra government will issue a white paper in the next 30 days on some mega projects going out of the state and if any steps were taken by the previous MVA government to retain them, Industries Minister Uday Samant said here on Tuesday. The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is under fire from the Opposition which has accused the ruling dispensation of failing to retain big-ticket Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus projects in the state. Both projects chose Gujarat over Maharashtra to set up their units.

The state government had alleged that the projects went out of Maharashtra due to inaction by the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

"The Maharashtra industries department will bring out a white paper in the next 30 days which will focus on why mega investment projects like Vedanta-Foxconn, Tata-Airbus among others went to other states. What steps were taken by the previous government to keep these projects in Maharashtra?" Samant told reporters.


He said the white paper will throw light on all the facts.

"Some people are deliberately spreading lies about these projects. It will be clear once and for all after the white paper will be issued," he said.

A white paper is an informational document that highlights the features of a solution, product, or service.

Amid a row over the projects, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that officials of the Tata-Airbus consortium had last year rued the "lack of conducive" atmosphere in the state, a claim refuted by former minister Aaditya Thackeray who hinted at the Centre's hand in Gujarat landing the project.

Aaditya had claimed officials of Tata-Airbus had told the then MVA government that they will have to set up the aircraft manufacturing plant wherever the Union government asks them to.

The Shiv Sena MLA had also refuted Fadnavis' claims that the previous MVA government did nothing to keep the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant in the state which eventually shifted to Gujarat. He said several meetings had taken place between Vedanta officials and the previous government early this year.

Fadnavis had also said that the Opposition was creating a false narrative over the projects going to Gujarat.