Magnetic Maharashtra

Often compared with Gujarat over investment climate, Maharashtra has coined its own lexicon to woo investors.
While Modi has been using “Vibrant Gujarat”, the state government plans to organize investment summits (Udyog Diwas) to hard-sell “Magnetic Maharashtra, Attractions Unlimited” to promote the presence of all kinds of industries and better infrastructure.
Aimed at retaining its overall lead in industrial investment, the new industrial policy promotes tailor-made incentive packages for major investments, provision of additional fiscal and land incentives to medium, small and micro-industries and encourages investment in under-developed growth centres.
It assigns a special status to mega investments. All those with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore and employment of 3,000 will be slotted together in the “ultra-mega projects” category. A chief-secretary-led panel will design customized incentive packages for it. Special incentives will be granted for investment in less developed and Naxal areas.
To connect developed centres like Mumbai and Pune to underdeveloped regions, secondary growth corridors will be created. Terming the new policy “path-breaking”, CM Prithviraj Chavan said it would ensure that the “state remained the premier investment destination”. In an obvious reference to Gujarat, Chavan said he appreciated healthy competition.
This ‘Magnetic Maharashtra, Brand Maharashtra’ policy gives priority to micro, small and medium enterprises and seeks to develop industrial corridors on the Mumbai-Pune-Solapur, Mumbai-Nashik-Aurangabad-Amravati-Nagpur and Mumbai-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg alignments on lines of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridors (DMIC) and seeks to develop helipads in MIDC areas. The MIDC areas will allocate 5% land on priority to women, SCs, STs and self-help groups.
The new policy also has a concept of ultra-mega projects with investment of above Rs1,500 crore and employment potential of over 3,000.
Maharashtra’s previous industrial policy was announced in 2006.