The Maharashtra government has begun aggressively inviting investors in the state with its fast-track approval programme. The big-ticket investors will get single window clearance from the state machinery in one month for setting up their projects.
The only condition will be that the investor will have to bring in a minimum investment worth Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) or provide employment to 1,000 people in urban places like Mumbai or Pune (A or B type locations). For the less urban or rural places (C or D type locations), the investor needs to invest Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) or generate employment opportunities for 500 people.
"With the fast-track programme, Maharashtra state will issue single window clearance to big investors in less than a month's time frame. We want to project Maharashtra as an investor friendly state. The government hopes to generate enough employment and investment through such schemes," said VK Jairath, secretary (industries), Maharashtra.
The government is also mooting plans to incentivise such projects on a case-to-case basis. The incentives include electricity duty refund, stamp duty exemption, and octroi-based refund.
The programme will be meant for the manufacturing and services sector, including sectors like auto, textiles, pharma, engineering, and IT.
Siemens India was recently given permission to set up a transformer manufacturing facility at Kalwa near Mumbai in four weeks, creating a record of sorts. Siemens is investing an initial amount of Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) for setting up the unit, which promises to directly or indirectly offer employment to 1,500 people.
"We had the option of setting up the transformer unit in China or India. However, a clearance from the Maharashtra state in four weeks made us stick to India," said J Schubert, managing director, Siemens India.
Estimates suggest that between 1991 and 2004, Maharashtra has been one of the most favoured states with 17 per cent share in both investment and employment generation.
However, over the last couple of years it faced tough competition from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, with some investments in fields like IT and biotechnology moving to these states, said a senior official with the MIDC.
