The Shiv Sena (UBT) Monday slammed the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra after Vedanta said the Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer Foxconn has withdrawn from a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture without elaborating on the reasons. Terming the Foxconn withdrawal as a ‘tragedy’ the Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the project was completely feasible in Maharashtra and asked the Maharashtra government to clarify why it was suddenly shifted to Gujarat from a highly feasible location of Pune.
“This is a loss for India, and Maharashtra could have propelled this growth story for India,” said Thackeray, who has been aggressive over the issue since Vedanata’s announcement to set up the plant in Gujarat.
Thackeray alleged that the current government has lost many industry projects to other states but losing Vedanta- Foxconn to Gujarat was “like rubbing salt on the wounds of Maharashtra.”
“Today we see India and India’s young and unemployed losing an opportunity in a global growth story because of this sudden last minute shift from Maharashtra that had been most feasible,” he said in a tweet.
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “Taking it away from Maharashtra to Gujarat – which by experts wasn’t conducive for semiconductor industry, inability to raise funds as expected has led to the collapse of an idea before it even began. Such a tragedy.”
Meanwhile, Vedanta has asserted that it is fully committed to its semiconductor project and has lined up other partners to set up India’s first foundry.
“Vedanta reiterates that it is fully committed to its semiconductor fab project and we have lined up other partners to set up India’s first foundry. We will continue to grow our Semiconductor team, and we have the license for production-grade technology for 40 nm from a prominent Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM),” the company said in a statement.
The company had announced plans to set up its chip plant in Gujarat with an investment of around ₹1.5 lakh crore. However, its JV partner Foxconn has announced to pull-out of the project.
Separately, MoS for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that Foxconn’s decision to pull out of Vedanta joint venture has no impact on India’s semiconductor fabrication plant goal.
“Its not for govt to get into why or how two private companies choose to partner or choose not to, but in simple terms it means both companies can & will now pursue their strategies in India independently, and wth appropriate technology partners in Semicon n Electronics,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.