₹10L cr loss to country due to Foxconn leaving: Cong

Nagpur: Foxconn’s withdrawal from the partnership with Vedanta has put the semiconductor project on hold, and will lead to a loss of ₹10 lakh crore for the country, said Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe on Tuesday.“Vedanda-Foxconn semiconductor project was proposed near Pune initially, but it was shifted to Gujarat by BJP for political gains ahead of Gujarat assembly elections. Now, this project will not materialize there as well,” he told reporters here. The much-hyped project, which was to bring investment of ₹1.5 lakh crore and create over a lakh jobs, became a bone of contention in the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis after they took over last year. The opposition led by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents – Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) — had flayed the saffron alliance for its failure to retain the project in Maharashtra.“The MVA government had completed all the formalities of setting up the mega project in Pune. We were ready to offer all the concessions and facilities to it. Maharashtra’s investment however was deliberately diverted to Gujarat in view of the polls there. Now, with the project in doldrums not only Maharashtra but the entire country faces a huge loss. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is harmful to the country and Fadnavis to the state,” Londhe said.Taking on the Modi government, he said many announcements were made in the name of ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ and ‘Make in India’ events, but a white paper should be published on how many of these projects have actually come up. “With the withdrawal of Foxconn, foreign investment by other companies will also be affected, which would be detrimental to the country. BJP and Fadnavis are responsible for many industries and organizations moving out of Maharashtra, including Tata Airbus, bulk chemicals drug park, and others. The PM can stop the Russia-Ukraine war but cannot prevent industries from moving out of the country,” Londhe said.