Khattar says Maruti's plant not shifting out from Haryana, targets AAP on water issue

Chandigarh, Jul 13 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday asserted that car maker Maruti's plant was not shifting out of Haryana and will remain in the state, and said opposition Congress' claims in this regard holds no merit.

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala had criticised the Haryana government over what he alleged was shifting of the Maruti DZire manufacturing unit from the state to Gujarat.

He had termed it as yet another proof of the failure of the BJP-JJP government in Haryana.

Responding to Surjewala's statement, Khattar said that “the claim made by the Congress holds  no merit”.

The senior Congress leader had demanded an explanation from Chief Minister Khattar “for exodus of existing industries from the state during the BJP-JJP regime.” Khattar also hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation in Delhi over the water sharing issue, saying Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal “is fond of doing political publicity stunts”.

On Sunday, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairman Raghav Chadha claimed that Haryana has been withholding 120 million gallons of water a day (MGD) meant for Delhi, after which the BJP government hit back, saying Delhi's water shortage is due to less water in Yamuna and the “mismanagement” of the AAP dispensation.

"..For everything they blame Haryana...if they (AAP dispensation) are unable to take care of Delhi, then Haryana can take care of Delhi too," Khattar said.

He said that Haryana is giving the same amount of water to Delhi as fixed by the Supreme court.

The chief minister was interacting with reporters in Gurgaon after presiding over the monthly meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievance Redressal Committee there.

He claimed that the AAP government is making false political statements to hide its failure.

Khattar said that whether it is a matter of oxygen requirement during the Covid pandemic or pollution, in every case, the Kejriwal blames Haryana, while the reality is that all these problems have been created by them only.

Hitting out at the Congress over Maruti issue, Khattar said that “during the time of the Congress, once Maruti had shifted one of its plants to Gujarat." "The Congress should be ashamed that one plant of Maruti has already shifted to Gujarat during their time, and that is why they are putting wrong blames on our government and this is ethically not right,” he said.

Surjewala, in a press statement, had claimed that Maruti has shifted production of three of its cars to Gujarat after 2014.

“Maruti first shifted the manufacturing of Baleno and Swift cars to Hansalpur, Gujarat from Haryana in 2017 and 2019, now Dzire has been shifted out of Haryana,” he had claimed.

Sharing details about investments, Chief Minister Khattar said that top companies around the world are investing in Gurgaon and other parts of the state.  New projects are being started in Haryana. Adequate investment is coming in Gurgaon and other parts, he said.

To another  question about the ongoing water dispute between Delhi and Haryana, Khattar said Haryana's requirement of water is no less than Delhi.  “Haryana has a population of 2.90 crore,  Delhi has a population of only two crore.  In this way, Haryana needs one and a half times more water as compared to Delhi,” he said.

The chief minister, however, said that Delhi is being given its share according to the court's orders.

"We get 2,000  cusecs of water from Yamuna, out of which we are giving 1,050 cusecs of water to Delhi", said Khattar.

The chief minister alleged that due to the poor system of water management in Delhi, the people of Delhi are facing water crisis.

He reminded how the Kejriwal government allegedly unnecessarily stored oxygen by taking excess oxygen quota  during the second wave of COVID-19.

Khattar said that more COVID-19 cases were reported in Haryana and even patients from Delhi were coming to the state to get  treatment.

He said that in Haryana, where 282 metric tonnes of oxygen was daily supplied to a population of 2.9 crore,  the Delhi government had got themselves a supply of 700 metric tonnes for its population of only two crore.

"Despite getting less oxygen, Haryana managed to deliver oxygen to the needy due to it's efficient management," he said. PTI SUN VSD ANB ANB