Of 29 MoUs signed in Davos, only 1 co from outside India: Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday targeted the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government, saying that of the 29 investment MoUs signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, only one company is from outside India. The annual five-day meeting of the WEF is underway in Davos, Switzerland from January 20. CM Fadnavis is attending the meeting with a state delegation.

In a post on X, Thackeray said the Davos trip of CM Fadnavis seems to be "totally misaligned" by his office. "Out of the MoUs for proposed investment signed with 29 companies, only 1 is from outside of India. The rest are all Indian or having HQs/bases in India," he said.

"Of the 29 companies, 20 are based in Maharashtra, 15 of which are in Mumbai where the @CMOMaharashtra is located," the MLA from Worli in Mumbai said. The state government has said that some 54 MoUs were inked in Davos until Wednesday with an investment of Rs 15.70 lakh crore. Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also handles the Urban Development Department, Thackeray said it was hilarious to see the entire department and officers of that ministry to be part of the delegation in Davos while the minister himself being dropped from it "in favour of another minister" (an apparent reference to Industries Minister Uday Samant) from his party. Davos is the most amazing place for building global relations for a state, with so many amazingly talented individuals and organisations coming together, he said. The question really is, what is the point of asking all of these 28 companies to sign MoUs in Davos, when the time in Davos could have been better utilised by the chief minister for international relations with other visiting dignitaries, companies, entrepreneurs, Thackeray added. "What's the point of being busy within ourselves when the CM could have an outreach to the world, for Maharashtra?" Thackeray said. Why could 'Magnetic Maharashtra' (investment summit) not be held, just like it hasn't been held since mid-2022, and have all these companies sign MoUs here, he asked. "I humbly urge the CM to do all these important MoUs from within our country in Maharashtra itself, inviting the world over, instead of doing it there and not meeting the world," he said. It will also be good if the state government can work with the WEF in bringing a summer Davos/mid year Davos to Maharashtra- something we had started pitching in May 2022, the former minister added.