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5,774 companies begin operations in western Maha: Industries minister Desai
The announcement came when the minister was interacting with industry representatives through a webinar organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce , Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA)
Maharashtra industries minister Subhash Desai on Monday announced that the state government has issued permissions to 9,147 companies to resume operations in western Maharashtra and 5,774 have already begun their operations. The announcement came when the minister was interacting with industry representatives through a webinar organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce , Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
Desai further said that the state government was taking strong and effective steps to bring the industrial activity back on track with the easing of restrictions and the lockdown. He said that 25,000 companies have started their operations in Maharashtra wherein six lakh employees have returned to work. Apart from the red zones, 57,745 industries have been permitted to resume business and out them 25,000 have started their operations, he said.
However, Desai specified that the industries in Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Thane have not been given permission as they were located in the red zones with high number of Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases. The minister sought co-operation from all stakeholders and said that there should be no hurry to start industries located in red zones as the fight was against the spread of the disease. “We are thankful to the industries minister, industries secretary and CEO MIDC for connecting with hundreds of industry members from the Pune region. They updated us about progressive steps being taken by the government and we shared the areas of improvement and our set of recommendations, including the need to start industries in PMC and PCMC (outside containment zone) with all the safety guidelines. Thankful to CEO, MIDC for agreeing to do periodic calls to further improve coordination,” said MCCIA director general Prashant Girbane.
“Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is determined to make the entire state a green zone,” he said, and added that sops in power tariffs and loan repayment would be given to ease the burden of industries.
Desai said that the industries will have to pay electricity bills for the only the units will are utilised and concessions will be granted to those industries which had borrowed loans from banks. “A special economic package for the small-scale industries will also be announced soon as the work for the same in its final stages,” he said.
Desai also added that a number of foreign companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have expressed keen interest in setting up in Maharashtra and talks are underway with officials from the respective countries. The small-scale industries must gear up for the big industries which will set up their operations in Maharashtra, he said.
Also present during the interaction were industries secretary Venugopal Reddy and MIDC CEO P Anbalagan.
