Devendra Fadnavis with Lodha Group MD and CEO Abhishek Lodha during the the MoU signing.
Credit: X/@CMOMaharashtra
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based Lodha Group has signed a Rs 1 lakh crore deal with the Maharashtra government for developing data centres in the financial capital of India.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Lodha Group MD and CEO Abhishek Lodha witnessed the signing of MoU at the ongoing World Economic Forum at Davos, the Swiss alpine town famous for skiing, which is known as a business meeting destination besides being known for scientific excellence and innovation.
State Industries Minister Uday Samant and several bureaucrats are accompanying the Chief Minister.
However, the signing of the MoU in Davos involving the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai-based real estate giant has invited the wrath of opposition parties and activists.
"MoU signed between Government of Maharashtra & Lodha Developers Ltd, This involves a total investment of Rs 1,00,000 crore and will create employment of 1,50,000. It involves IT/ITeS-Data Centres and the projects will be in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,” Fadnavis said.
However, the opposition parties slammed the Maha Yuti dispensation and Fadnavis.
Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar, a two-time former Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly, asked: “If Indian companies are going abroad to sign agreements, what is the benefit? Will foreign companies actually invest in Maharashtra?.”
Mumbai North Central MP and Mumbai Congress President Prof Varsha Gaikwad said that it is a waste of tax-payer’s money.
“This could have been signed at Sahyadri or Mantralaya or even the fancy office Mangal Prabhat Lodha had built for himself in the BMC isn't it? Like every year, this year too a whole entourage has accompanied the CM to Davos only to sign MoUs with majority Indian companies. Last year too, MoUs with Hiranandani and Raheja group were signed in Davos, both operating from Mumbai. Why is taxpayer money being wasted this way?,” she said.
Aam Aadmi Party Mumbai Working President Ruben Mascarenhas asked: “CM in Mumbai, Lodha in Mumbai but the MoU being signed in Davos! Couldn’t this have been signed in Aamchi Mumbai?”