Maharashtra is on track to become a trillion-dollar economy, given the impetus to infrastructure development in the last three years, with the state attracting more than half of the total foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country last fiscal, the state’s chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, at the fifth edition of the ‘Progressive Maharashtra Summit’, organised by industry body FICCI. Fadnavis said that the fact that state accounted for more than half of the country’s foreign direct investment last year, showed the confidence of global investors.
There used to be a very close competition between Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat, in terms of attracting FDI, he said. In 2016-17, of the overall FDI, as much as 53 per cent came into Maharashtra, making it the undisputed leader, the chief minister added. Fadnavis stressed that the reforms that were being taken up by the government, were paving the way for making India globally competitive.
See also: Maharashtra accounts for 25% of investments in real estate and construction sectors
“We have the demography, democracy and demand,” he said, adding that when the world population is ageing, 50 per cent of India’s population is under 35. “This demographic dividend can be leveraged, to transform Maharashtra into a manufacturing hub to cater to domestic and global demand,” he explained.
Fadnavis pointed out that the government had created infrastructure projects to the tune of Rs 5.96 lakh crores and was looking at setting up more projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore, going forward. This, he said, would create a lot of jobs for industries in the services sector and enable delivery based on information, communication and technology (ICT).
Fadnavis added that 120 kms of new metro rail lines in Mumbai and another 200 kms in the Mumbai metropolitan region, would be completed in the next four years. On the trans-harbour link connecting Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, the chief minister promised that the job order would be issued in the next 20 days with the work set to start before year-end. On the Navi Mumbai International Airport, Fadnavis said the first phase is likely to be commissioned by December 2019 and the second by 2022.
Aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), in a report last week, said the much-delayed Navi Mumbai airport is unlikely to commence operations before March 2024, given the fact that the successful bidder was yet to receive the official go-ahead for the project. Fadnavis also said the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway will integrate 24 districts in the hinterland of the state to India’s largest port, JNPT, enabling transporting cargo to the port within 12 hours.
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