Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy stated he asked officials about the justification for allocating a substantial amount of funds. He also expressed concerns about the incentives provided to small-scale industries by the Centre.

New Delhi: Union minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday seemed to be backtracking from his previous remarks questioning the subsidy given by the Centre to semiconductor giant Micron while claiming that the company is getting Rs 3.2 crore subsidy for every job it creates in Gujarat. Kumaraswamy said he was misquoted and that he had not mentioned any state.

The purported remarks were in reference to US firm Micron setting up a $2.5 billion unit in Gujarat. “Bringing the semiconductor sector in India is strategic, we require it. Parallelly, we have to create jobs for the second-line sector, our small-scale industry. We are thinking about it and working out on it… I have been misquoted. I have not mentioned any state. Why has my statement been picked up like this? I have to be very cautious in the future,” he told reporters.

#WATCH | Karnataka: Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy clarifies on his purported comment regarding US Semiconductor firm, Micron Technology getting subsidies for every job created in Gujarat, says, “Bringing semiconductor sector in India is strategic, we require it. Parallelly, we… pic.twitter.com/CpnqIwTGhW

— ANI (@ANI) June 15, 2024

“The new manufacturing unit will generate about 5,000 jobs. For this, we are giving them $2 billion [around Rs 16,000 crore] in subsidies… If you calculate, that’s 70% of the company’s total investment,” the JDS leader was quoted as saying by Times of India on Friday

“Semiconductor is a strategic industry. It is a basic requirement for electronics and automobile manufacturing. Both these sectors generate lots of employment. I greatly appreciate the semiconductor-related initiatives taken by @PMOIndia and will work towards fulfilling them through my ministry,” he said in a post on X on Saturday in a bid to shrug off the controversy.