Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Uddhav, Fadnavis both lobbied for Airbus deal
MUMBAI: Even as the ruling and opposition parties continued to trade barbs over the Rs 22,000-crore Tata-Airbus project coming up in Vadodara, it has come to light that the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as well as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had met representatives of the European defence major and the Indian conglomerate to bring the project to Maharashtra even before the Centre signed an agreement with M/s Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain in September 2021.
According to officials from the industries department, the state government evinced interest in the project, which involves the setting up of a production facility for C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force, when they came to know about it following the Bangalore Aero India aircraft exhibition held in February 2021.
A senior official from the industries department met representatives on at least two occasions to discuss the prospect of setting up the facility in Maharashtra. Then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray met Banmali Agrawala, president for infrastructure, defence and aerospace in Tata Sons, while Devendra Fadnavis, then leader of opposition, met national security advisor Ajit Kumar Doval as well as Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran
to hold informal discussions, officials confirmed.
“Though the relations between Uddhav Thackeray and Fadnavis were not exactly cordial then, Fadnavis upon request by state officials lobbied for the project to come to Maharashtra. He was keen that the project should come to MIHAN, a special economic zone in Nagpur, as the presence of a few big-ticket projects would boost development of Vidarbha region,” the officials referred to above, said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.