Maharashtra signs MoU with Chinese firm to set up paper unit

MUMBAI: An MOU was signed Saturday between the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and Chinese paper manufacturing firm Nine Dragons in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and state industries minister Subhash Desai.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding, Nine Dragons will set up a unit in the state and invest Rs 4500 crore over five years to create 10,000 job opportunities, a statement from the chief minister's office (CMO) said.

Earlier, speaking at the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Challenge event organised by the state government's IT department, Fadnavis said AI can bring about sustainability in agriculture.


"When we (Maharashtra) are aiming to become a trillion dollar economy by 2025, our prime focus is on agriculture and stress is on the use of technologies," he said.

He added that technology was being used extensively to track environmental changes, use of pesticides, soil health and provide timely updates to farmers.

Fadnavis cited the use of a single ticket system for multiple modes of transport as another area where technology is being used aggressively.

He said education and rural health care were a challenge earlier but the use of technology was proving helpful.