Maharashtra plans to hold global investor summit

MUMBAI: Having managed to get the biggest of the names of corporate India at an event over the weekend, the Maharashtra government has now set its eyes on having a dedicated investment summit, on the lines of the one by its neighbour Gujarat.

"Very soon we will have an investment summit here," Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya told PTI.

When asked about the timeline for holding such a summit and if it would be this year, Kshatriya, who has been anchoring the key initiatives for the government, said, "Yes, this year itself."

At the Mumbai Next event hosted by the 100-day-old Devendra Fadnavis government, top names from India Inc, including Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, his younger brother Anil, State Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, and a host of other biggies attended and vowed to do more for the city.

Gujarat has been holding a flagship event called 'Vibrant Gujarat' every two years since 2001, where many MoUs are signed between the industry and the government to attract investments into the state.

At the last summit in January, the state inked MoUs worth trillions of rupees.

Having such an event also helps the state change its perceptions among the investors. Many other states, including Bengal, MP and Rajasthan have begun similar summits like Gujarat for attracting investments.

The Centre has welcomed such moves by the states, saying we are in the age of "competitive federalism".

"I'm delighted that Mumbai and Maharashtra have joined this renewed race for inviting investments," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said at the 'Mumbai Next' conference.

"He who reforms has the ability to attract more investments, that will take those state forward," Jaitley had said.