GIFT city: Gujarat govt move to bail out IL&FS "anti-constitutional", says ex-BJP CM

By A Representative
Former BJP chief minister Suresh Mehta, in a letter to Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, has said that the state government is trying to bail out IL&FS, which has become "heavily debt ridden" as a result of its involvement in the state-sponsored Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT).

Referring to media reports which said that the state government has given "in principle" clearance to buy up IL&FS' 50% stakes in GIFT (in which the state owns 51% of stakes, while the rest are owned by IL&FS), Mehta said, "The decision to have the GIFT project was suspicious right from the very beginning."

Insisting that the state government cannot spend people's hard-earned money to bail out a private company like this, Mehta insisted, it is "anti-constitutional" for the state government to go ahead with the deal without Gujarat state assembly's nod.

Earlier this week, Rupani had announced, Gujarat would buy out the 50% stakes of the beleaguered IL&FS in GIFT City to ensure there are "no delays" in the project.

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