New policy expected in two days, offers lands on a short term lease
The Maharashtra government is expected to announce new Industrial Policy’ to attract MNCs from Japan, Korea, US and Germany and of course from China. The government is expected the new policy will boost the fund-crunched economy of the state.
Mumbai: Given the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the economy to an almost grinding halt and the government is finding it tough to revive the economy, the glimmer of hope is that as Multi-National Companies (MNCs) from across the globe are contemplating pulling out their production facilities from countries like China.
Taking note of the emerging global scenario the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has drafted detailed plan to attract industries that are planning to shift their production facilities from various countries around the globe and relocating them in India. The officials from the state government hope that this would definitely boost the state economy in the near future and will overcome the fiscal crunch that the state is facing currently.
It is a well-known fact internationally that the service sector, manufacturing and the agricultural sector are the backbone of economy of Maharashtra. The state government has allowed agro-related works to be carried out even during the lockdown period in all zones across the state. On the other hand, manufacturing units have been allowed to resume their production except the units are located in the red zone.
These steps have been taken considering the state exchequer will get revenue to some extent. However, these measures are not adequate to bring the state’s economy back on track.
The manufacturing industries are the most affected sector by the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 1000 Multi-National Companies (MNCs) located in China have adopted the mantra ‘Exit China’. Electronic giant Apple has decided to shift one-fifth of its business from China. United States of America (USA) has also advised US-based enterprises to shift their production facilities to India and more than 100 such MNCs have preferred a choice of Uttar Pradesh to set up their units.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Subhash Desai, Minister of Industries of the Maharashtra government has held marathon meetings with senior officials of his department and select bureaucrats to prepare a plan of ‘Advantage Maharashtra’ – the old mantra of the state to captivate industries.
Bhushan Gagrani, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, told TheNews21 that the industries department is in full swing to bring out the Industrial policy to attract MNCs from across the globe.
“The policy is almost in the final stage. We have submitted it for the final nod of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. CM is expected to announce the policy in a couple of days,” said Gagrani.
Disclosing the possible outlines of the proposed policy, Gagrani said, “CM Thackeray has already given a hint that the MIDC has identified 40,000-acre land across the state for such MNCs that will show interest to invest in Maharashtra. Except for the industries that come under the ‘Red’ category, the Green Industries will not require to wait for permissions.”
Gagrani further said that, as the world is stuck due to corona pandemic and the global economy has suffered, no industry has the fund for capital investment. “In this situation, there is a possibility that investors will not have funds to invest in industrial land. So we will offer them the option to borrow the land on lease for 10 or 15 years. The rent or lease amount of the plot will depend upon the location of the MIDC,” said the senior bureaucrat, who had worked in MIDC for several years and had given shape to the industrial development of the state.
Elaborating the rent option, Gagrani said, in an existing policy, MIDC provides land to the investor on lease basis for the period of 95 years. The term lease is just a technical term, but it is as good as, the industry holds the land like on ownership basis.
At one hand, when industries are exiting from China, China is trying hard to retain them. Most of the industries from China have India as the first preference. Hence, India has challenges to attract MNCs from China. Gagrani too said that now China is India’s competitor. “We do not need to approach the Chinese embassy to illustrate Maharashtra’s proposal before them to attract business. Japan, Korea, US and Germany are on our target and we have concentrated on these embassies,” said Gagrani.
