MUMBAI: Maharashtra has signed dozens of investment pacts at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, entailing an investment of Rs 15.70 trillion and having the potential to create 1.6 million jobs, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.
Maharashtra has lost out on the coveted top investment destination tag to Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu of late.
Fadnavis, leading the five-day global investor jamboree, told reporters through a video call from Davos on Thursday evening that seven of the 61 memoranda of understanding signed are strategic partnerships for knowledge in mobility and education and not investments.
Among the total investment commitments, Rs 6 trillion will flow into the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune, Rs 5 trillion to Vidarbha, Rs 30,000 crore to the northern part of the state, and Rs 20,000 to 25,000 crore in the Marathwada region that is now emerging as a manufacturing hub, Fadnavis explained, without offering the details of the balance amount.
All the pacts have 98 per cent foreign direct investment components and are in the areas of infrastructure, green energy, electronics, software, steel, defence, textiles, solar, biotechnology, and pharma, he added.
The chief minister said he expects “the success rate of converting these agreements into actual investments at 65-70 per cent as all the companies which inked these agreements are serious players.” However, he admitted that this would be much lower than the 95 per cent conversion last time.
“Most of these investment agreements are connected to sustainability, green hydrogen, and clean fuel," he said, adding the theme of this year's WEF is artificial intelligence.
"AI has changed the industry and job markets and we have to embrace technology. My government plans to make Maharashtra the first mover in AI. An ‘innovation city’ is also being planned in Navi Mumbai, which will create an eco-system for all innovations," Fadnavis said.