MUMBAI: Maharashtra has topped in the foreign direct investment (FDI) across India by receiving Rs 70,795 crore in April-June in 2024-25. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis sharing the government of India’s FDI figures said when he was the chief minister during the BJP government, they received a total Rs 3,63,161 crore FDI investment.
“Maharashtra has received 52.46% of FDI investment of the country, which is more than in total calculations of Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan,” said Fadnavis. “In 2023-24, we received Rs 1,18,422 crore that was double against Gujarat’s FDI and even more than Gujarat and Karnataka’s FDI together,” he said.
“In the last two years, we received Rs 3,14, 318 crore FDI and this number will go up when we calculate the third quarter of investment. We continue to receive investment in the textiles industry,” Fadnavis said.
He said from April to June, 2024, Maharashtra topped with Rs 70,795 crore FDI, while Karnataka was second with Rs 19,095 crore and Delhi was third with an investment of Rs 10,788 crore.
However, state Congress chief Nana Patole said the figures were nothing but jugglery with numbers. “Fadnavis has mastered it,” said Patole. He said in the last two-and-a-half years of the Mahayuti government, most projects that would have brought huge investment and generated many jobs were relocated to either Gujarat or other states “just because Modi & Shah hate Maharashtra.”
The assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in a few months. Fadnavis said the state’s three ruling parties—BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP—will together decide the MahaYuti’s chief ministerial face, and asserted that there is no confusion in the ruling alliance over the issue.
He said that the MahaYuti alliance will face the assembly polls under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde. Fadnavis was speaking to the media in Nagpur on the sidelines of a programme.
Replying to a query on whether the CM face in Maharashtra will be decided before or after the elections, he said, “There is no reason to create unnecessary confusion. In MahaYuti, CM Eknath Shinde is the head of the government and we are going to the polls under his leadership.” The former chief minister said he does not have the right to decide the chief ministerial face.
“The BJP’s parliamentary board and leaders of two other ruling parties—CM Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP—will together take a decision on this matter. Only they can decide whether to do it (choose the CM candidate) now or later. I don’t have the right to speak about it. But there is no confusion,” Fadnavis said.
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly are likely to be held in November.
On the PM Modi’s apology about the collapse of Shivaji’s statue, Fadnavis said that the PM showed his sensitivity by apologising, but “arrogant” people will not understand it”.