County council leaders have been accused of preparing a "blatant power grab", should a shake-up see the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership scrapped.
That business-led partnership has, for the past decade, secured millions of pounds from the government to boost companies in Norfolk and Suffolk, but it faces an uncertain future.
The government has signalled functions of LEPs could be integrated into new local government structures formed through county deals, to devolve more powers to local councils.
Norfolk and Suffolk county councils are both negotiating with Whitehall over separate county deals.
There are tensions between the county council and district councils over the Norfolk deal and whether it should include a directly elected mayor.
And Graham Plant, county council deputy leader, sparked anger over comments on what will happen to the New Anglia LEP - and its assets - through a county deal.
During a discussion about the Conservative-controlled council's Investment Strategy Framework, which outlines priorities in the coming years, Mr Plant said: "The LEPs may be going pretty soon. Our Local Enterprise Partnership is Norfolk and Suffolk.
"We are Norfolk, so therefore, we need a Norfolk framework for Norfolk and when we get that framework, we need the funding which comes with it as well.
"When the LEP goes, they own assets, they have various income streams. We need to make sure Norfolk gets its fair share of that as well."
The LEP has distributed government cash to projects such as Easton College, the Norwich Aviation Academy and the Nar Ouse Business Park in King's Lynn.
And John Fuller, Conservative leader of South Norfolk Council, said he feared the county council was planning a "blatant power grab" to help plug gaps in its finances.
He said: "It is chilling that the assets and the networks that have been painstakingly built up, to provide jobs and prospects for the county could be purloined and frittered away to fill short term financial gaps, which would leave us all poorer."
Chris Starkie, chief executive of New Anglia LEP, said, while a devolution deal could affect the partnership, it was premature to say it would be gone "pretty soon".
He said: "We have just set our budget for the year ahead and we will be operating projects and programmes for the coming financial year."
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