Maharashtra CM Fadnavis to attend trade fair in Germany

After his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been nominated by the Prime Minister to attend the Hannover Trade Fair in Germany, between April 12 and 17.

After his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been nominated by the Prime Minister to attend the Hannover Trade Fair in Germany, between April 12 and 17.

For the Davos visit, too, Modi had picked Fadnavis over chief ministers from other states.

The trade fair will be jointly opened by Narendra Modi, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. India is partner country at Hannovaer Mess 2015, the world’s largest industrial trade fair.

Maharashtra is one of the few Indian states to get the opportunity to present at the fair, and the chief minister is expected to promote the state through the Make in Maharashtra programme, sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said. His visit may translate into foreign firms investing in the state, the said.

Along with officers from the CMO, industries department and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, industries minister Subhash Desai will be part of the delegation.

“We already have more than 300 German companies in Maharashtra. The German tour will help us in achieving our target of investment of Rs 5 lakh crore at the earliest,” Desai told HT.

“Meetings and conferences with noted firms from across the globe from various sectors are lined up. After Fadnavis attended WEF at Davos, we signed memorandums of understanding with several firms. We are hopeful of a good response here too,” he said.

Fadnavis will also visit Japan in May to unveil the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Koyasan Universtity. A delegation of Japanese officials, led by the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture, met Fadnavis recently in Mumbai and expressed Japan’s willingness to invest in the agro-processing sector.