Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accuses PM Modi of bias in approving semicon projects to States

Telangana’s criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition at the Centre over not being considered for semiconductor projects got amplified with senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday (August 14, 2025) accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bias.

“The PM speaks of competition among States that will make India strong. But if the umpire is so blatantly biased, the competition becomes a farce,” he said in a social media post on Tuesday’s Union Cabinet approval for four semiconductor manufacturing projects, in States other than Telangana.

Of the four, under the India Semiconductor Mission, a project each in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab got approved, while the remaining two are for Odisha.

In the post on X (formerly Twitter) from the handle @Jairam_Ramesh, the Congress leader was particularly scathing on the allotment to Andhra Pradesh. “The Modi govt has just green signalled 4 semiconductor manufacturing projects… after doing detailed home work, a leading private company had submitted its application for a project in Telangana. This was approved on the condition that it relocates to Andhra Pradesh,” he said, accusing the Centre.

https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1955850297907048916

Seeking to highlight how it was not the first such instance, he alleged “much earlier similar transfer of locations were forced through. Two semiconductor manufacturing projects were compelled to shift their proposed location from Telangana to Gujarat. Similarly, another factory planned for Tamil Nadu got approval on the condition that it shifts to Gujarat. Need anything more be said? The PM speaks of competition…”

For the A. Revanth Reddy led Congress government in Telangana, losing a project for which it had laid the ground by sanctioning land and incentives to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is bound to come as a rude shock. Especially, at a time when Mr. Reddy and the Industries and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu repeatedly had been listing investments attracted in last 18 months and the consequent jobs created.

On Wednesday, Mr.Sridhar Babu lashed out at the Centre for discrimination against Telangana. He said Andhra Pradesh was allocated the project despite not even a single acre allotted, for the same, and preparatory work remaining incomplete. In contrast, Telangana government had undertaken every step a proactive State should, from allotment of 10 acres of prime land at Maheshwaram, near Hyderabad, to approving all subsidies and completion of clearances in record time for the establishment of a world-class advanced system and packaging facility, he said.

Such decisions insult Telangana’s preparedness and weaken the country’s investment climate, he had said, demanding reconsideration of the decision and a fair, merit-based approach.

Attracting projects in the semiconductor eco-system has become paramount for States as the country under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) seeks to emerge as strong semiconductor and display ecosystem host. The approach to position itself as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design also serves the larger Make in India cause.