Make In India: Maharashtra unveils a set of policies for easing business in State

MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Monday announced a slew of policies aimed at making it easier to start and do business in the state, encouraging people from backward classes to turn entrepreneurs, and boosting 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 ongoing Make in India Week seminar, stressing on the need to boost manufacturing.

He pointed out that while agriculture employs 50% of the people in Maharashtra, the sector contributes only 11% to the state GDP. “This means it is not a real employment. 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 for small enterprises with less than nine employees, and also allows farmers to sell directly to retailers, bypassing market of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government APMC markets.

The state also launched a single window policy 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.

The new policies were launched at the Maharashtra investment seminar in the presence of Union minister of state for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman.