Make in India: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis charts out road ahead for businessmen

MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Monday announced a slew of policies to make it easier to start and do business in the state, encourage people from backward classes to turn entrepreneurs and boost the manufacturing sector. "A seven-crore-strong youth population in the state needs employment in the near future," chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said after announcing the new policies at the Make in India Week seminar, stressing on the need to boost manufacturing.

He pointed out that while agriculture employs 50 per cent of the people in Maharashtra, the sector contributes only 11 per cent to the state GDP. "This means it is not a real employment generator. We need to change this and create employment in manufacturing," Fadnavis said.

The first policy to be unveiled was Maharashtra Retail Trade Policy, which provides for online registration of small enterprises with less than nine employees and also allows farmers to sell directly to retailers, bypassing the markets of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), a statutory market committee constituted by a state government. The state also launched a single window for business in general for seeking various permissions and licences, which will operate through an online portal. A package named after BR Ambedkar was unveiled to encourage SC/ST youth towards entrepreneurship besides two separate policies for maritime development and electronics and FAB manufacturing.