The Maharashtra government has set an ambitious target of becoming a $1-trillion economy by 2025 and formulated key industrial policies for fast-tracking growth in the State.
“If the State continues to grow at the rate of more than 10 per cent a year, it can become a trillion-dollar economy in the next 7-8 years,” said the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.
At the recently-concluded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) summit, Fadnavis termed Maharashtra the ‘powerhouse of India’ and said his government had come up with an economic model that would propel the State’s growth trajectory from the current 9-10 per cent to 15.4 per cent by 2025. In the current fiscal, Maharashtra’s economy is valued at about $400 billion. To add zing to the State’s investment climate, the Fadnavis government unveiled nine major policies this year, covering a whole gamut of industries, including aerospace and defence, electric vehicles (EVs), logistics park, finTech, textile, gems and jewellery, coir, and cloud computing.
The EV push
The ‘Electric Vehicle and related Infrastructure Policy - 2018’ is the first of its kind in the country. Since Maharashtra leads in automobile manufacturing, the policy will complement the existing set-up. The State government hopes that around five lakh battery-powered vehicles will be manufactured in the State in five years, which will bring in an investment of ₹25,000 crore and one lakh jobs.
The EVs would be exempt from road tax and registration fees. The vehicle-makers will get 50-100 per cent reimbursement of stamp duties on land and loan agreements. Moreover, the GST on these vehicles would be refunded if the units are sold within Maharashtra. Sops would also be provided to the component- and battery-makers. For setting up the charging infrastructure, a subsidy of 25 per cent, or ₹10 lakh, whichever is less, would be given to the first 250 charging stations.
Buyers of EVs would be given a subsidy of up to ₹1 lakh. For two-wheelers, it would be ₹5,000, and ₹12,000 for three-wheelers. For those purchasing electric buses, there would be a subsidy of ₹10 lakh. The subsidies would be transferred to the accounts of the buyers within three months.
Importance of FinTech
The Fadnavis government was also the first to announce a financial technology (fintech) policy, in February. Considering the importance of fintech in the BFSI sector, the State government has also decided to set up a ‘Global Fintech Hub’ in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
To meet the needs of the fintech sector and provide amenities and accommodation for the workforce, built-up space is being offered at affordable rates. For this purpose, the State government has approved the setting up of Smart FinTech Centres, where additional floor space index (FSI) would be provided to all urban local bodies of the State with population of over 10 lakh. FSI of up to 4 will be admissible within the limits of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, subject to the condition that the minimum area requirement for availing the additional FSI should be at least 50 acres, and the plot should have an access to road with a minimum width of 24 metres. Over the next three years, the State government has also decided to create a fintech corpus fund of ₹250 crore.