‘Wholesale Surrender...Betrayal’: Congress Charges PM Modi Over Tata-Airbus C-295 Facility

New Delhi: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility in Gujarat's Vadodara, Congress has accused him of ‘wholesale surrender’. The grand old party claimed that the establishment was originally intended to be set up in Maharashtra’s Nagpur. 

Congress' Rajya Sabha MP and communications head Jairam Ramesh stated that Maharashtra's people are poised to give a decisive response to Prime Minister Modi and the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government, for ‘betrayal of the state’. 

Ramesh claimed in a post on ‘X’, “Today, the non-biological PM is in Vadodara to launch the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility. This exact same project was supposed to be set up in Nagpur, but was shifted to Gujarat in 2022 on the eve of the assembly elections there.”  

Jairam Ramesh remarked on the loss of a significant investment for Maharashtra, suggesting, "One can only imagine the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres" that resulted in Maharashtra missing this opportunity.

He further criticized the current leadership, stating, "This is not an exception. Under the non-biological PM’s leadership and instruction, the Union Government and the Mahayuti government have conspired to ensure the wholesale surrender of Maharashtra’s interests in landing new projects or seeking Central support." 

नॉन-बायोलॉजिकल प्रधानमंत्री आज टाटा-एयरबस सी-295 एयरक्राफ्ट सुविधा का शुभारंभ करने के लिए वडोदरा में हैं। बिलकुल इसी परियोजना को नागपुर में लगाया जाना था, लेकिन 2022 में गुजरात विधानसभा चुनाव से ठीक पहले इसे वहां स्थानांतरित कर दिया गया। कोई केवल उस साजिश की कल्पना ही कर सकता है… — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 28, 2024

Highlighting Congress’s stance on balanced and equitable growth across India, Ramesh said, "New infrastructure projects, special investment zones, and modern industry should benefit all Indians, and not one state alone." 

Prime Minister Modi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez inaugurated the Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL)-Airbus facility on Monday, a landmark project for manufacturing C-295 military aircraft in India. The Tata-Airbus facility, now operational, is India’s first private sector final assembly line dedicated to military aircraft production.