BJD and BJP engage in war of words over reports of JSW group withdrawing its proposed project from Odisha

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], September 24 (ANI): The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were engaged in a war of words on Tuesday after reports emerged that JSW Group is planning to move its proposed project outside Odisha.

However, JSW Group is not withdrawing its proposed electric vehicle and battery manufacturing project from Odisha, JSW Steel’s Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Ranjan Nayak, said in a brief statement, without elaborating much on the matter.

BJD spokesperson Santrupta Mishra, while addressing a press conference, said, “I have read about the JSW plant moving to Maharashtra or somewhere else outside Odisha. I sincerely hope that is not the case in the interest of Odisha. I saw the statement by the Industries Minister in this regard, which was very disappointing and unfortunate because of several reasons.”

“First of all, when a large corporation and a government sign a MoU, it is of serious matter. Just to say that the previous government-led by Naveen Patnaik was signing MoUs only and was doing nothing, it is very unfortunate. By saying such things, we are not only offending the success and achievements of the previous government but we are offending the industrialists and industrial houses that have signed MoU,” he added.

Mishra further asserted that this is the kind of temperament that drives industries away.

“We need to be respectful of investors who are coming to the state. MoUs are not a child play, there is a series of negotiations that happen. The problem with the current government is if they have not squandered the first 100 days in renaming old projects but had asked the simple question, What does the industry want? The industry feels that the government is not sincere about welcoming them. Law and order is also one of the reasons the industries don’t feel safe. That’s why the industries are considering other states as options. The government needs to respect the decisions made by the previous government, as they are not individual decisions but the commitment of the government of Odisha,” the BJD leader added.

Sampad Kumar Swain, Industries Minister and BJP leader, told ANI that the previous government-led by Naveen Patnaik, was only signing the MoU and there was no implementation.

“JSW has clarified that it is not leaving Odisha. I have a question for BJD that during their time, the industries and projects that were coming up in the state, they would only sign MoUs and no implementation would take place. A MoU was signed with JSW also, but till date they have not been allotted any land. BJD is a government that only does advertisements, and because of this, there was a lot of negativity,” he said.

He further asserted that they are trying to bring as many industries as possible to Odisha.

“In the previous 2-3 days ago, we approved an investment of Rs 45,000 crore to bring to Odisha. This will also create 36,000 employment opportunities,” Swain added.

A financial newspaper, citing sources, has earlier reported that JSW is considering shifting its EV and battery plant to Maharashtra from Odisha.

An agreement was signed with the then BJD government on February 10 to establish the project at Naraj in Cuttack and Paradip in Jagatsinghpur.

The USD 24 billion JSW Group is ranked among India’s leading business houses. It has a presence in various sectors including Steel, Energy, Infrastructure, Cement, Paints, Venture Capital, and Sports