The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra to focus on four key sectors of growth

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Pune Feb. 22 The Maharashtra Government had come up with the new Industrial Investment and Infrastructure Policy in 2006 with four thrust areas — agro processing, retail, infrastructure and textile, according to Mr V.K. Jairath, Secretary, Ministry of Industries.

At the Digital Maharashtra seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Western Region, Mr Jairath told newspersons that the initial process for the drafting of the four policies had begun, and within four months, at least two draft policies would be brought out. He said the State Government is also revisiting its IT/ITES policy 2003, as it is about four years old.

The new policy is expected to be brought out in about eight months' time. He also said that the draft policy for infrastructure was almost ready and only needed to be fine-tuned.

Retail policy

Stating that there was no policy for textiles in many of the state governments, he said that Maharashtra is all set to formulate a textile policy. "If there is an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the textile sector, about 65,000 crore jobs would be the employment opportunity," he pointed out.

The country's organised retail sector is growing at 20 per cent. Maharashtra, which has 43 per cent urbanisation, has potential for the development of this sector, he said while adding that retail helped rural marketing and the establishment of supply chains. The State will, therefore, come out with a comprehensive retail policy which would facilitate the setting up of malls, address concerns of retailers and create a conducive environment by amending relevant Acts, including labour laws.

District development

Mr Jairath said the State Government would make special efforts for speedier economic development in the 10 districts that are lowest in the State on the Human Development Index. It is proposed to offer employment-based incentives to the units coming up in these districts, he said. The districts are Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Jalna, Nandurbar, Washim, Dhule, Nanded, Osmanabad, Buldhana and Chandrapur.

Mr Jairath said a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for building infrastructure at Nagpur for the Golden Quadrangle region of Mumbai-Pune-Nashik-Aurangabad would be formed in three months' time. He said that the formation of the SPV had been envisaged in the Industrial, Investment and Infrastructure Policy of Maharashtra 2006 and had received an in-principle okay from the State Cabinet.

SEZ growth

On SEZs, he said the State Government's draft Bill was ready and stressed that the State was committed to its growth. According to him, it was not possible to create world-class infrastructure, have tax rationalisation and flexible labour policies all over the country and noted that SEZs would work like pockets of excellence.

Mr Jairath said during the past 18 months, the State had received 38 mega projects valued at Rs 43,500 crore.

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