Devendra Fadnavis assures Maharashtra business community, says law and order in state is 'absolutely good'

Mumbai: Even as various pockets of Maharashtra witnessed unrest in the past few days, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday asserted that the law and order situation in the state was “absolutely good”. Over the past week, various pockets, especially the industrial ones like Pune and Mumbai, witnessed unruly mobs going on a rampage, damaging public property and bringing economic activity to a standstill through blockades. The unrest began after a group of Dalits observing the 200th anniversary of an Anglo-Maratha battle were allegedly attacked on the outskirts of Pune. [caption id=“attachment_4257205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] “Even today, the law and order situation in Maharashtra is absolutely good, there is no problem with it,” Fadnavis told reporters while addressing a curtain raiser event for a forthcoming investment summit to be hosted. Various groups called a state-wide band on 3 January, which managed to shut down most areas of the state and also turned violent at some places, leaving two people dead and hundreds others injured. Earlier, Fadnavis announced that Maharashtra is aiming to break into the trillion-dollar GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) league in the next 7-10 years, assuming that it can continue with its current growth of over 10 percent per annum. At present, Maharashtra’s GSDP is $ 400 billion. “Businesses can vouch for it that nobody is troubling them. And that is the strength of Maharashtra. The people of Maharashtra is the strength of Maharashtra,” he added. Fadnavis said the state has “regained” its top spot in business now and announced the Magnetic Maharashtra Convergence, a three-day summit next month, aimed at increasing investments in the state. The three-day summit, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 February, will focus on future industries and sustainability, employment and infrastructure, and will have dedicated sessions. He said the state has adopted an infrastructure-led development approach and will continue to stick to it. Answering those sceptical of such summits, Fadnavis listed successes from the national-level ‘Make in India’ summit organised in Mumbai in 2016 to make his point.

He said 1,523 of the 2,984 memorandums of understanding signed with industry have fructified, which entail an investment of Rs 4.91 lakh crore (as against the overall Rs 8 lakh crore envisaged), and creation of 22 lakh jobs as against the target of 30 lakh.

Stating that statistics are a “befitting reply” to sceptics, Fadnavis said the MoUs do not convert into action immediately on the ground and it takes up to eight years before an industry may move. He lauded the work done by the industries department, saying results achieved by it are 20 per cent above the rest. Industries Minister Subhash Desai said the state accounts for 15 percent of the national GDP and contributes a fourth of the total exports of the country and was entrenched in all the major sectors and was focusing on the upcoming ones. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s chief executive Sanjay Sethi said heads of state and business leaders from across the globe are expected to attend the Magnetic Maharashtra Convergence. The state also announced awards for start-ups which aim to encourage newer businesses with over Rs 1 crore in prize money for the first three winners.