Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that Maharashtra is the country’s investment magnet due to infrastructure development and implementation of policy reforms to start new industries easily and in a short time is underway.

He further stated that due to all these efforts of the government, there are unlimited investment opportunities in the state. He appealed to the investors to invest more in the state in a meeting at Sahyadri Guest House on Monday.

Industries Minister Uday Samant, Minister of State for Industries Indranil Naik, and 20-20 Investment Association President Vera Trojan were present at the meeting.

“Due to policy reforms and development of infrastructure, Maharashtra has become the ‘growth center’ of the country. Maharashtra has 60 per cent of the country’s total data capacity. Mumbai is not only the financial capital of the country, but also the capital of entertainment and start-ups. Therefore, Maharashtra has become the ‘magnet’ of investment in the country,” said Chief Minister Fadnavis.

He said that the state government is working through various schemes and initiatives to make Maharashtra drought-free.

“The Jalyukta Shivar campaign with public participation has been implemented in the state to increase the groundwater level. The implementation of this scheme is being done under Phase 2. Due to this scheme, about 20,000 villages in the state have become drought-free. Along with the water saturation of the villages, the farmers are also prospering. Due to the availability of water for irrigation, the farmers are growing two crops a year instead of one crop. Horticulture cultivation has also increased,” he added.

CM Fadnavis said that the work of the country’s largest river linking project from Wainganga to Nalganga will be started in the state. The complete study of this project has been completed and a detailed project report is ready. This will make Vidarbha water-rich.

This river linking project is about 500 kilometers long. Along with this, to irrigate the state as much as possible, the water flowing from the Western Ghats to the sea will be brought to the Godavari basin through lift irrigation.

“There is a water deficit in the Godavari basin. This deficit will be filled through this. As a result, water can be made available to agriculture and industries here as per demand. After the project is completed, the entire Maharashtra will be irrigated,” he added.

According to Chief Minister, the state government is working to create trained manpower along with industrial growth.

With the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a large-scale skill development programme is being implemented.

Considering the future, such training facilities are also being provided in industrial training institutes in the state to provide skill development training in the field of artificial intelligence. He said that employment is being created in new sectors by providing skill training in various sectors.

“A large number of employment opportunities are being provided in the state in the ports, shipbuilding and logistics sectors. These sectors are being developed through policy reforms. The government is working to create more and more employment in new sectors,” he said.

CM Fadnavis said schemes like Drone Didi, Lakhpati Didi are being implemented for women empowerment. Women’s self-help groups have become a people’s movement. Due to this, women are becoming economically empowered. Women are also being trained to spray on the fields through the Drone Didi initiative.

Last year, 13 lakh women became Lakhpati Didi in the state and this year 25 lakh women will become Lakhpati Didi.

CM Fadnavis said that a large number of houses are being built to provide houses to all the homeless. Houses are being provided to the homeless through various schemes.

Four lakh houses will be constructed by the end of next year. Along with this, action is being taken through various schemes to provide affordable houses in the cities.

Redevelopment of slums has been started in big cities. The world’s largest Dharavi slum redevelopment project is being implemented in Mumbai city. Work on this project has started.

The Chief Minister said that the government is focusing on providing quality education in the state. Students are being educated through more than one lakh schools across the state.

“The Central government has brought a new education policy in 2020. The new education policy has been brought by considering all the aspects of future challenges, new technology, capacity building to compete with the world. The state government has also signed an agreement with Cambridge University to train teachers,” he added.

–IANS

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