19.6.18

Maharashtra is revving up: Morgan Stanley

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is aggressively pursuing a development agenda. His focus is to make Maharashtra a $1 trillion economy by 2025, which is about 20 per cent of country’s estimated GDP.

Fadnavis is actively pushing implementation of a slew of urban infrastructure projects including metro corridors in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur worth Rs.92,000 crore and Mumbai Trans Harbour Link worth Rs.17,843 crore, enhanced connectivity between urban and rural parts of the state, revival of agriculture, skilled work force and construction of 18 lakh homes.

American multinational investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley in its report has taken a note of CM’s plan and target, especially in the wake of his recent visit to the US where he had held meetings with the World Bank and representatives of MNCs and visited the prototype of hyperloop at Nevada. Interestingly, Fadnavis presented status report in this regard to the fourth governing council meeting of the NITI Ayog.

Morgan Stanley in its report said that currently the state is contributing about 15 per cent of India’s GDP and Maharashtra is the likely to be the growth engine of the country for the next five years. CM’s target of Maharashtra’s economy to achieve $1 trillion represents an annual growth of 15 per cent and it will be led by services growth. The state’s real output growth has accelerated from 5.4 per cent in F2015 to 9.4 per cent in F2017.

As far as Foreign Direct Investment inflow is concerned, the state in F2017 has received $29 billion, which is about 51 per cent of the total FDI to India. It was the outcome of the changes in the state’s infrastructure, land and labor laws and ease of doing business.

Agriculture though contributes only 11 per cent of the state’s output, it employs 50 per cent of the work force. According to Morgan Stanley, concerted water program by creating almost 52,000 ponds has improved water security of the drought-prone state. The state saw 13 per cent growth in agricultural sector in F2017.

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