Ahead of Yogi Adityanath’s visit, Uddhav Thackeray says Maharashtra won’t allow anyone to ‘forcibly’ take business away

Ahead of his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath’s visit to the financial capital, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday warned he will not let anybody “forcibly” take businesses away from the state.

He made it clear that Maharashtra is not “jealous” about someone’s progress if it happens on the basis of fair competition.

Adityanath is arriving late this evening in Mumbai and slated to meet industrialists and film personalities during the visit. As per reports, Sachin Sawant, a spokesperson for the Congress party, a part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, has alleged a conspiracy to shift Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, out of Mumbai.

“We are not jealous if someone progresses, we do not have any problem with someone’s progress if one competes. But if you are going to forcibly take anything away, then of course, I won’t let it happen and you (industrialists) will not be willing to go,” Thackeray said at an event organised by IMC, a small businesses-focused lobby grouping, here.

Drawing from the tag line ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’ used by his state while pitching to investors, Thackeray said Maharashtra has strengths including its culture and institutions.

“Some people are coming today, they will also meet you all and ask you to come (for investments). But they do not know the magnetic strength (of Maharashtra), it is so powerful that forget people going from here to there, it should not so happen that somebody from there comes here,” Thackeray said.

Thackeray said the economy, which had suffered reverses because of the pandemic, is slowly coming back as the unlock process gets underway.

Unlike the demonetisation, which had led to “disappearance” of money, Thackeray said the stress caused by the pandemic is not permanent and the money will come back into circulation once economic activity resumes.

He said of the Rs 60,000 crore of investment tie-ups with companies announced earlier, work on 70 per cent of them is underway through land allotment or other permissions. Helping a common man’s purchasing power by creating jobs is necessary for overall development, Thackeray said.