About 25,000 industrial units in Maharashtra have started functioning and over 6 lakh workers have resumed working, said State Industries Minister, Subhas Desai.

Speaking at a webinar organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Desai said, “Except red zone, industries in other parts of the State are slowly resuming operations. About 57,754 industrial units had applied to the State seeking permission to start operations. We have issued all the permissions and over 24,486 industries have resumed work. Over 6,50,000 workers have joined work”.

Desai added that the government hopes that in the next few days, all 57,000 industries that have got permission will start operations. “In western Maharashtra, 9,147 industries have been given permission to start work of which 5,774 have started operations. The State government is keen to ensure the resumption of operations by all industrial sectors. However, the first fight is against coronavirus and hence there should not be any hurry to start operations in red zones” he said.

Mumbai, Thane and parts of Pune district fall in the red zone due to the rising number of Covid-19 patients. “ Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has expressed confidence that the entire State will fall under green zone by May end and we must support the Chief Minister’s vision” Desai said.

Package for MSME

The minister said the Centre was going to announce a package for the MSME sector in the State and discussions were on with the Central ministers, including Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal. “The State government is considering a policy to provide facilities to small industries” he said.

Desai added that the State officials are holding discussions with representatives from various countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, to tap foreign investment opportunities.

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