Maharashtra to sign 32 global investment MoUs in 2 months:Prithviraj Chavan

MUMBAI: Global majors like General Electric and L'Oreal have shown interest in investing in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said.

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be signed with 32 companies -- which are ready to invest over Rs 500 crore each -- before the end of the year, Chavan told reporters here at the press conference to announce World Economic Forum's `India Economic Summit', to be held over the weekend.

"The locations have been fixed...they are diverse locations, in Pune, Satara, Raigad districts, in Vidarbha, in Aurangabad district," he said, stressing that Maharashtra continues to be a top attractive destination for investors.

However, state government officials were tight-lipped about the total investment that will flow in through the MoUs, or the employment they will generate.

When asked about the troubles in setting up shop in the state, especially the power availability issues, he assured that things will change.

The government is committed to bring the state out of the load-sheddings, which results in power cuts of over 12 hours a day in some areas, Chavan said.

On land acquisition, Chavan said, "Land acquisition is a real issue, we have to give adequate compensation to farmers."

About the flight of investment to other states, notably Gujarat, Chavan said, "I don't agree at all that we are losing investment. (But) 100 percent investment will not come to a (any single) state."

When asked for comment on the "pro-activeness" of Modi, who is currently on China tour, hunting for investment, Chavan said the Gujarat CM was doing his job.

"There is nothing wrong if people go abroad to attract investment into their states. It's the job of the Chief Minister and I wish my colleague from Gujarat all the best."

World Economic Forum's Senior Director Sushant Rao said the main obstacles to investment in the country were lack of infrastructure, complications with bureaucracy and the corruption.