Solar Project Shift: Maharashtra Cong Accuses Govt, Gujarat Wins

Mumbai, Sep 19 (PTI) A solar panel project, which was proposed to be set up at Nagpur in eastern Maharashtra, has been shifted to neighbouring Gujarat, claimed Leader of Opposition in assembly Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress on Thursday.
Wadettiwar maintained the mega project would have brought investment worth Rs 18,000 crore to Maharashtra.
"It has come to light that the project has gone out of the state due to political and bureaucratic apathy," the Congress leader alleged.
State Industries Minister Uday Samant rejected Wadettiwar's claim.
Wadettiwar noted this was the third mega industrial venture after Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus projects to be moved to BJP-ruled Gujarat from Maharashtra, where the saffron party is a constituent of the ruling coalition.
The MLA from Bramhapuri in Chandrapur district alleged leaders of the ruling dispensation were busy making remarks on "chopping off and singeing tongues" -- referring to comments against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi -- Hindu-Muslim, "breaking parties and stealing MLAs".
"Industries are finding it difficult to work in Maharashtra," he insisted.
Meanwhile, Industries Minister Samant rejected Wadettiwar assertion and accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which the Congress is a constituent, of spreading lies.
He pointed out that a leading renewable energy company, which supplies 550 MW of electricity, is planning to expand its capacity to 2,000 MW in Maharashtra.
Tagging a statement from ReNew, he said the company has clarified it was not going anywhere.
The private company is committed to invest Rs 1 lakh crore and generate 30,000 employment opportunities in Maharashtra, Samant asserted.
The company has said it is planning to invest in the upstream chain of solar manufacturing and is not investing in similar projects in Gujarat or any other state.