Make process of ease of doing business more industry-friendly: Fadnavis tells officials

Mumbai, Jan 9 Amid rising competition from various states in attracting investors for the development of industries, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra on Thursday asked the state industry department to make the process of ease of doing business more industry-friendly so that the state continues to be the favoured investment destination.

He also emphasised the need to change the industrial policies in line with the times and immediate action should be taken to prepare a plan in this regard.

The Chief Minister said that there is a need to make changes to the various policies, like Industrial Policy, Electronics Policy, Gems and Jewellery Policy, Textile Policy and MSME Policy, in line with the times and the process for this should be started by March.

At his meeting with the industry department, Fadnavis said that the process of allocation of lands to the investors by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation should be done in the next 100 days.

Industries Department Secretary P. Anbalagan made a presentation on the work to be done by the Industries Department in 100 days.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) currently has 3,500 acres of land available for allotment and the process for acquiring 10,001 new acres of land will be implemented.

Under Ease of Doing Business, AI chatbot facility will be provided on Maharashtra Industry, Trade and Investment Facilitation Cell (MAITRI) Portal and Industries Commissionerate portal.

Also, the process of including 50 more services on MAITRI Portal depending on the zero-pending policy will be completed in the next 100 days.

"To promote industry and exports, all district-wise investment and export conferences will be organised. Also, a target has been set to create ten thousand new entrepreneurs under the Chief Minister's Employment Generation Program," said Fadnavis.

He directed the industry department to prepare a plan so that the youth can get apprenticeships while creating new entrepreneurs.

According to the Industry Department, a special cell will be set for redressal of grievances of investors and investment incentive amounts will be disbursed immediately.

In addition, further steps will be taken to attract more foreign direct investment.

The state government during the ensuing World Economic Forum summit at Davos will focus on bringing in maximum investment in the state.

Further, the Industry Department said that the work in AURIC city and Bidkin Industrial city near Sambhajinagar and Dighi port in Raigad district will be completed on a priority basis.

The department will focus on strengthening industry service centres in all districts.

Meanwhile, at another meeting, Fadnavis asked the Labour Department to submit a joint plan to ensure that unorganised workers get the benefits of Central and state government schemes as per the occupation-wise classification of various sectors registered on the Central government's e-Labor Portal.

Currently, there are about 1.5 crore registered workers in the state. Along with these workers, various schemes for unorganised workers in other sectors should be brought on a single platform.

It was suggested that an online service like 'Boiler Manufacturing Management System' should be launched to ensure speedy coordination between the industry and the regulators.