Devendra Fadnavis says company officials last year rued unfavourable investment climate in Maha

Amid a row over Tata-Airbus picking Gujarat to set up the aircraft manufacturing project, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said officials of the consortium had last year rued the lack of conducive atmosphere in the state.

According to a report of PTI, amid a row, he claimed the decision to shift the project was taken when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister. The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power in Maharashtra from November 2019 to June 2022.

Fadnavis' revelation came amid a tussle between the ruling Eknath Shinde dispensation and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)-led opposition over the Rs 22,000 crore project to manufacture C-295 military transport aircraft moving from Maharashtra to Vadodara in Gujarat.

I had personally invited the chiefs of the Tata Airbus Defence projects on April 24, 2021, at my residence 'Sagar', despite being a leader of opposition in the state. I spoke to them and told them as a senior leader I will speak with the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to keep the project in Maharashtra, PTI reported.