Economic Survey 2017-18 finds holes in Maharashtra government’s investment claims

The Devendra Fadnavis-led government has been expecting a around Rs88,000 crore in investment since 2016

The Maharashtra government’s wait to get promised investment is getting longer. The Devendra Fadnavis-led government has been expecting a total investment of around Rs88,000 crore since 2016 when the Make in Maharashtra event was held, according to the Economic Survey 2017-18.

The sate recently organised Magnetic Maharashtra, a global investors’ summit where MoU’s worth Rs12 lakh crore were signed.

The amount is far less than the government’s claims made in the same year.

These investment commitments are related to ongoing projects. The report also revealed that Maharashtra is still far behind its neighbouring Gujarat in terms of attracting investment.

During the Make in Maharashtra event, the state government signed 3,018 memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with proposed investments of Rs8,04,897 crore, with a target of 30.5 lakh new jobs.

“In 2016, 378 projects with an investment of Rs38,193 crore as well as proposed employment of 71,000 were registered. In 2017, 354 projects with an expected investment of Rs48,581 crore as well as proposed employment of 27,000 were registered. In addition to this, 24 projects with an expected investment of Rs1,582 crore and proposed employment of 2,000 were implemented,” says the report.

To enhance investment prospects, the sate recently organised Magnetic Maharashtra, a global investors’ summit where MoU’s worth Rs12 lakh crore were signed.

The report further revealed that Maharashtra has failed to attract more investment than Gujarat in the last 27 years.

Maharashtra attracted investment worth Rs11,89,815 crore as compared to Gujarat’s Rs15,22,129 crore between August 1991 and December 2017.

However, when it comes to the total number of projects, Maharashtra is ahead of Gujarat. The total number of approved proposals in the state was 19,826 compared to 13,783 in Gujarat in the corresponding period.

“If you look at the break-up of Rs8 lakh crore, investment worth Rs3.90 lakh crore was related to the industries department. In 2017, we received actual investment of Rs40,000 crore. In addition, projects worth Rs1.72 lakh crore are in progress and land acquisition process for projects worth Rs1 lakh crore has also been completed,” said Sunil Porwal, additional chief secretary of the industries department.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the situation of the industries sector in the state is worrying. “Since 2015-16, the growth rate of the sector has gradually been declining. In 2013, the state had 38,326 factories, which fell to 34,769 in 2017, according to the Economic Survey. It means in the last four years, 3,557 factories shut down, which was 10% of the total number of factories. This also had a cascading effect on employment generation,” Chavan said.

Chandrakant Salunkhe, founder and chairman of Maharashtra Industrial and Economic Development Association, said the actual investment when compared to the MoUs signed will always be less because the state government always to try to misguide people by quoting exaggerated figures. “I doubt the state’s claims over signing MoUs worth Rs12 lakh crore during the Magnetic Maharashtra event,” Salunkhe said.