Maharashtra signs 61 MoUs worth ₹15.70 lakh crore in Davos

Maharashtra signs MoUs worth ₹15.70 lakh crore at WEF Davos, aiming to create 16 lakh jobs and develop an AI-powered "innovation city" in Navi Mumbai.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has signed 61 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth a whopping ₹15.70 lakh crore at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. Around 98% of the total investment will come in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Thursday. Claiming that Maharashtra had become the data capital centre of India, he said the state government was planning to develop an “innovation city” in Navi Mumbai which would be powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and create an ecosystem for the AI sector in Maharashtra and the country.

Maharashtra signs 61 MoUs worth ₹15.70 lakh crore in Davos

The state delegation completed its Davos tour on Thursday and succeeded in signing MoUs worth ₹15.70 lakh crore, a record in itself. “It was a big day for Maharashtra, and the MoUs will help in creating around 16 lakh jobs in the state,” Fadnavis announced.

Among the major MoUs is one with Brookfield, one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the world, which will invest ₹1,03,200 crore in Maharashtra’s infrastructure sector. The company’s officials signed an MoU with MMRDA for this. Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon, has also decided to invest a sum of ₹71,795 crore to set up a data centre.

The Hiranandani Group, one of the largest real estate developers in the country, has announced that it will invest ₹51,600 crore in the infrastructure sector. Other companies that have decided to invest in this sector are Blackstone ( ₹43,000 crore), Temasek Capital ( ₹43,000 crore), K Raheja Corp ( ₹43,000 crore) and Sumitomo Realty & Development, a leading comprehensive real estate developer in Japan, which will also invest ₹43,000 crore.

Fadnavis chose to respond to the charge levelled by critics that MoUs did not translate into actual investment. “Almost all the MoUs signed in the erstwhile Mahayuti government headed by Eknath Shinde resulted in investment,” he said. “On an average, 40% of MoUs lead to actual investment in the country, and in Maharashtra, this goes up to 65% to 70%. As far as MoUs signed in Davos are concerned, up to 95% of them get translated into actual investment.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said that most of the companies signing MoUs with the state government in Davos were Indian, and the signing could have been done right here in Maharashtra. Fadnavis responded to him, saying, “The WEF has become an international centre for networking. CEOs of all the reputed companies come to Davos to participate in interactions. The Indian companies you are talking about have also turned global. They also want their global partners to interact with the representatives of Maharashtra.” The chief minister added that the state organised investment summits such as ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’ for the same purpose: to exhibit their strength and create a conducive environment for networking and business.

Fadnavis said that artificial intelligence (AI) was changing the job market and governance across the globe, and considering this, Maharashtra was taking steps to stay ahead of the others. “Bearing this in mind, we have decided to create an ‘innovation city’ in Navi Mumbai,” he said. “It will be AI-powered and create an ecosystem for the AI sector in Maharashtra and the country. We have discussed the project with many tech giants during the Davos tour.”

State industries minister Uday Samant said that the government had also constituted a committee to bring out the country’s first policy on artificial intelligence. The policy is likely to be announced in the next three months.