The Maharashtra Congress on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for whisking off major projects and important government offices out of Maharashtra, and shifting them to Gujarat.

PM Modi, along with the visiting Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez jointly inaugurated the prestigious Tata-Airbus C-295 Aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara on Monday.

Congress AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha Member Jairam Ramesh highlighted the issue prominently recalling how this particular project was to come up in Nagpur but was suddenly transferred to Gujarat two years ago, leading to an uproar in Maharashtra.

“This exact same project was supposed to be set up in Nagpur but was shifted to Gujarat in 2022 - on the eve of the Assembly elections there. One can only imagine the machinations that went on behind the scenes to ensure that Maharashtra lost out on this key investment,” said Ramesh.

Referring to other examples, the former union minister cited several instances, like the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) that has been set up only in the GIFT City, though it was originally planned for Mumbai.

“The former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2006 had begun the efforts to set it (IFSC) up in Mumbai. Land in Bandra Kurla Complex had already been set aside for the IFSC. But that was sabotaged, costing Mumbai potentially 2 lakh jobs,” Ramesh said.

He said that both Mumbai and Surat have worked together to develop India’s diamond industry for decades, with Surat handling cutting and polishing, and Mumbai handling trading and export.

“However, a new Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) was built in Surat. It is another matter that this move has failed entirely, with many diamond merchants moving their operations back to Mumbai,” he added.

Besides the Tata-Airbus project, Ramesh mentioned the (now failed) Vedanta-Foxconn chip manufacturing factory that was moved out to Gujarat, or the Textile Commissionerate Office based in Mumbai for more than eight decades abruptly shifted to Gujarat for no clear reasons, though the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) remain the textiles hub since decades.

The Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education & Development was also shifted from Nagpur to Delhi in 2021, and while the Centre sat on the demand for Classical Language status to Marathi for 10 years, despite sustained pressures from the Congress, it moved only to ensure it on the eve of the Maharashtra Assembly elections (November 20), he said.

He also charged the ruling MahaYuti in this state for conspiring to ensure the wholesale surrender of Maharashtra’s interests in landing new projects or seeking central support.

“New infrastructure projects, special investment zones, and modern industry should benefit all Indians, and not one state alone. When the industrialisation of Gujarat was underway in the 1970s and 80s, projects like Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (GSFC), Gujarat Refinery, and IPCL were set up without taking away projects from other states,” declared Ramesh.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)