Maharashtra CM meets Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, seeks support for smart city project

NEW YORK: Terming his meeting with India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as "very productive" and "insightful", Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the software giant will extend support for a digital village and smart city in the state.

Fadnavis, who is on a week-long visit to the US, met Nadella in Seattle yesterday.

He tweeted a picture of him with the Microsoft CEO and said "Had a very productive meeting and insightful discussion with @Microsoft CEO @satyanadella at Microsoft in Seattle".

He said Microsoft has agreed for a "Digital Village" and for technology support to provide health care services in remote tribal areas in Maharashtra, with a pilot programme to come up at Melghat in Amravati district.

The technology major also agreed to develop a smart city, similar to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and will set up a cyber security centre at Pune, Fadnavis said in his tweet.

He also met Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Raymond Conner and "discussed expansion of operations at MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) plant in Mihan, Nagpur.

He spoke on Maharashtra's initiatives for expansion of aviation infrastructure and future requirements of aeroplanes, according to a tweet by his office.

"@Boeing agreed to take hard look at Nagpur MRO for greater direct expansion and also to steer training initiatives in Nagpur & Maharashtra," he tweeted.

Fadnavis also met Joe Minarik of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and briefed him about the state's new IT policy.

Amazon has shown keen interest in further dialogue for evaluating sites for India AWS Region and also for new investments.

"@Dev_Fadnavis assured all the help and necessary support if the company decides to begin its AWS operations in Maharashtra," his office tweeted.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister arrived in the US on June 29, holding meetings and discussions with business executives and community members in New York, New Jersey, and Detroit where he visited the General Motors and Chrysler headquarters and addressed the Maharashtra Trade Development Conference.

He then flew to San Francisco and will visit Los Angeles. Accompanied by Industry Minister Subhash Desai and other state cabinet ministers, he met senior executives from Google, Cisco and Apple and also signed agreements for various collaborative projects with the companies.

He also tweeted that an MoU has been signed between the Maharashtra government and Cisco to make Nagpur a smart city.

Another agreement has been signed between the state government and multinational Blackstone and Panchshil Joint Venture for three different projects.

"Blackstone to invest Rs 750 crore in EON Free Zone SEZ, Rs 1,200 crore in Hinjewadi Phase-3, Rs 1,500 crore in IT park in Central Mumbai & Rs 1,050 crore in other IT park (Mumbai)," he tweeted.

Beverage giant Coca Cola also announced Rs 500 crore investment in Chiplun MIDC.