The Maharashtra government received investment commitments of about Rs 75,000 crore this financial year in diverse sectors, including electronics and automobiles, according to state Industries Minister Subhash Desai.
The minister, however, expressed unhappiness over the industry's preference for the region around Pune and said the state wanted the investments to be "decentralised" into other regions.
He said the coming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which will create a base at Aurangabad, and the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (Mihan) are big opportunities, which will funnel more investments into the state in the future.
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Desai said interest in the defence and aerospace sectors is also increasing, and mentioned Reliance Industries' announcement to set up its aerospace facility in Nagpur at an investment of over Rs 6,000 crore as a welcome move.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been aggressive in selling the opportunities present in the state and has travelled to China and the US to scout for investors. He has also accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi on some of his international tours. The announcement by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to invest $5 billion in August this year was one of the biggest investment commitments, which was preceded by an announcement by General Motors to invest Rs 6,400 crore at its Talegaon plant.
Fadnavis recently pointed out that neglect of the ports sector by the previous regimes led to decline of interest by the industry and affirmed his government's commitment to do more work on the same.
The Chief Minister said that all the developed countries in the world have adopted a "port-led" development, which Maharashtra is also adopting.
He specified moves such as the decision to have a major port off the Dahanu coast, steps taken to improve rail connectivity at Dighi and Jaigad ports as some of the measures undertaken by his government.
