Vedanta-Foxconn demanded 'central govt alignment', Shinde's letter reveals

In his letter, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said state was 'moving expeditiously' on request and invited the Chairman for MoU ceremony on July 29.

A July 26 letter from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, reveals that the group asked for central government's alignment for starting a semiconductor facility in Maharashtra, the Indian Express reported.

The Vedanta Group, according to the letter had made two requests from the state government before it finalised the location for its Rs 1.5 trillion semiconductor facility: 

• Cabinet approval for the project at the proposed site in Telgaon near Pune.
• Central government's alignment for building facility in the state.

In his letter, Shinde said state was ‘moving expeditiously’ on request and invited the Chairman for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) ceremony on July 29.

Referring to a letter from Vedanta Group, the Maharashtra CM wrote, “…(your) two key requests from the state are to seek central government alignment and cabinet approval. You will be pleased to know that on both fronts, the state is already in advanced stages and is moving ahead expeditiously.”

He further writes in the letter that a “high-powered committee” gave an in-principle approval for the incentive package and this would be cleared by the state cabinet. 

Notably, Shinde was sworn in as Maharashtra CM on June 30  and on July 26, the Maharashtra cabinet comprised only him and Fadnavis.

“In addition, we are also seeking alignment with the highest levels at Government of India to request for unfettered support in ensuring the project receives due support,” Shinde added. 

On September 14, Gujarat was chosen as the destination for the much-hyped semiconductor project. Vedanta-Foxconn signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government for setting up the semiconductor facility on the same day. 

"Vedanta-Foxconn had been professionally assessing sites for a multi-billion-dollar investment. “This is a scientific and financial process which takes several years. We started this about 2 years ago. We decided (on) Gujarat (a) few months ago as they met our expectations,” Anil Aggarwal tweeted

Since Aggarwal announced in a tweet that Vedanta-Foxconn has decided to go to Gujarat, the recently sworn-in Maharashtra government has been receiving flak from state opposition parties including NCP and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shivsena.

In his July 26 letter inviting Agarwal for the MoU signing ceremony, Shinde said: “The event will feature the highest decision-makers from the political and state leadership in the state and we believe is an essential next step in ensuring a seamless cabinet approval. We also believe the MoU will form a strong basis for (the) Government of India to favourably approve the project to meet the capital purchase plan as outlined by Akarsh during our discussion.”

Akarsh Hebbar, also Aggarwal's son-in-law is Managing Director of AvanStrate Inc, a manufacturer of LCD glass substrates. 

 “…it was heartening to see the significant progress that has been made to ensure the state’s policy incentives, infrastructure offerings and ecosystem are aligned to the project needs. As noted during the meeting, India will only be the fifth country to host a semiconductor and display ecosystem of this size and with Vedanta as an anchor investor, we are confident of realising the goal of housing the world’s next Silicon Valley in Pune, Maharashtra,” Shinde had written in his letter.

Speaking on Maharashtra’s offer, Agarwal said in his tweet, “…in 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 & based on professional & independent advice we chose Gujarat… Maharashtra will be our key to forward integration in our Gujarat JV.”

After the series of tweets by Aggarwal, the Shiv Sena in its editorial Saamana described this as a "favour" from Maharashtra CM to his friends in the BJP. 

 "This is not an allegation but our conviction. The way Fadnavis sent the international finance hub from Mumbai to Gujarat, Eknath Shinde has just allowed the Foxconn-Vedanta deal to go to Gujarat. Tomorrow, they will sell Mumbai too," the editorial said.

Blaming the Shinde government, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "Eknath Shinde didn't just take away our 40 MLA's but also big projects of Maharashtra to Gujarat. Who is responsible for the loss of 2 lakh crores and 1 lakh job opportunities in our state."