Maharashtra Governor receives Belgian royal couple

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao today sought Belgium's cooperation in clean energy, education and infrastructure development.
Rao was speaking after receiving King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium at Raj Bhavan here.
The King was accompanied by a large ministerial and business delegation.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present at the meeting.
"King Philippe said diamond trade overwhelmingly dominated Indo-Belgian commerce, making for more than 80 per cent of Belgian exports," a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.
The King called for strengthening the economic engagement between Belgium and India by diversifying the bilateral trade basket and expanding investment ties.

Welcoming the royal couple to Maharashtra, Rao said the state would like to see greater cooperation between Maharashtra and Belgium in the areas of clean energy, infrastructure development, higher education, skill development and film-making.

Fadnavis informed King Philippe that the state government has agreed to the idea of setting up a university exclusively to offer courses relating to diamond industry. He sought Belgian help in setting up the university.
The chief minister informed the royal couple that the state government is implementing a slew of infrastructure projects, such as Metro Rail, Mono Rail, Elevated Corridor project, Coastal Road, Mumbai to Navi Mumbai Sea Link, Ro-RO services, etc to augment public transport in Mumbai and to ease the burden of traffic on suburban trains and buses.
He sought the cooperation of Belgium in infrastructure development and in the implementation of the scheme of Smart Cities Mission.

The governor hosted lunch in honour of the royal delegation.