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Maharashtra rolls out red carpet for investors; Modi to open 'Make in India Week' today

The country's commercial capital is all decked up for the occasion and the state government officials and police are on their toes to secure the city and make the event – to be attended by the who's who of governance and industry – a huge success.

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This is one event that could well give Maharashtra government a kick-start in bringing in fresh global investments. And chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is pulling out all the stops to make the maximum out of the Make in India Week and market the state as an attractive investment destination.

Aimed at reviving the country's ailing manufacturing sector, the curtains for Make in India Week will go up in Mumbai on Saturday, and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The country's commercial capital is all decked up for the occasion and the state government officials and police are on their toes to secure the city and make the event – to be attended by the who's who of governance and industry – a huge success. 

The first such mega event to be held in Maharashtra in recent years, the campaign will also seek infusion of investments in Mumbai, which is planned to be developed as an International Finance Centre (IFC), services and IT hub. The government is banking on its ease-of-doing business initiatives to serve as a magnet in wooing the investors.

Cotton-growing regions like Marathwada and Vidarbha, which are known for agrarian distress, will be offered as destinations for the textile industry with the availability of land on the various nodes to be developed under the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) attracting investors.

Breaking from convention, where states pitch themselves as investment destinations, the government is keen that industries, which have invested in Maharashtra, speak to potential investors about their experience. “We are confident that huge investments will come to Maharashtra in all fields,” state chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya told dna, adding that a good response in industry and textiles is expected with the government approving the cotton-to-cloth policy.

“A lot of investment is expected in Mumbai, where we will be showcasing areas and sectors in which investments can be made,” he said, listing gaming and animation, and financial services as some of these verticals. 

“Mumbai's strong points are urban infrastructure, financial services. We want Mumbai to be an international financial services centre... and develop it as a media exchange hub, centre for film studios, gaming, animation. Mumbai has the best environment for investments,” noted Kshatriya. “It has a young population which is educated and cosmopolitan, and is one of the safest cities. We are saying that Mumbai offers a holistic environment in which you can live,” he said.

Stating that the government has announced 12 textile parks and will announce 10 more this week, Kshatriya said that these would be spread out across all regions where cotton was grown like Marathwada, Vidarbha and Khandesh. “We are expecting a very good response to the DMIC nodes. One DMIC node is at Shendra- Bidkin where around 4,000 hectare land is available for industrial development... the second is at Dighi port, with 1,100 hectare land and the third at the Integrated Industrial Park at Supa in Ahmednagar. The state also has MIHAN (Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur),” he said.

A series of seminars to pitch Maharashtra and Mumbai as investment destinations, and to showcase start-ups and investment opportunities in industrial corridors like DMIC and the textile sector will be held. While the Maharashtra night at Chowpatty will see Bollywood's biggies in attendance, the Gateway of India will witness a performance by the Navy band.

The flip side

Though Maharashtra had attracted huge number of investment proposals, the actual realisation has been lower. According to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2014-15, from August 1991 to March 2012, a total of 4,246 FDI projects (of 20,643 in the country) amounting to Rs 97,799 crore (as against Rs 4,25,811 crore in the country) were approved. Of these, only 45% were commissioned and 10% are still under execution with a share of investment of 51% and 8% respectively.

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