After losing out the Vedanta-Foxconn project to Gujarat recently, Maharashtra has now lost another big-ticket project. The central government announced that the ₹22,000 crore Tata-Airbus project for manufacturing military transport aircraft would now be set up in Vadodara, Gujarat. The government of Maharashtra tried hard to set up in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The opposition of the state lashed out at the ruling Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition for losing back-to-back big-ticket projects to Gujarat. The opposition parties alleged that the government lost potential employment generation chances by losing these projects.
The Tata-Airbus project is termed to be one of the most prestigious military projects in India. It involves the manufacturing of 56 military transport aircraft which will replace the IAF’s older Avro aircraft. This initiative will also boost the Make-in-India defence programme. 16 of these aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition by Airbus Defence and Space SA, Spain. The remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by the Indian aircraft contractor – Tata consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) led by TASL.
The centre’s announcement didn’t come as a surprise as it was expected to boost BJP’s chances in the upcoming elections in Gujarat. However, it dampened the reputation of the ruling government in Maharashtra.
