File Photo: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Agence France-Presse)
Taking forward his agenda of attracting investments in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today announced his plan to transform Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) into a global financial, commercial and entertainment hub.
Mr Fadnavis told reporters that a mega transformation initiative called 'Mumbai Next', under which a conclave, presumably on lines of Vibrant Gujarat Summit, will be held here in partnership with NGO Mumbai First on February 6.
He said during his recent tour to Davos for World Economic Forum Summit, he has received positive feedback from investors seeing Mumbai as an 'ideal' place that can be turned into a financial hub.
"While I was in Davos, a lot of investors termed Mumbai an ideal place to be made into a financial hub. This city has a lot of potential. If we maintain a specific time frame of development, we can get many global companies to invest (here) and thereby generate employment," he said.
The Summit called Transforming MMR into global financial, commercial and entertainment hub will be attended by MoS Finance Jayant Sinha, besides Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, actor Amitabh Bachchan, World Bank representative and European Union ambassadors, Mr Fadnavis said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may also attend the event, though it is not confirmed yet, he added.
"During the conclave, we will listen to what they (industry players) have to say. Their suggestions will be taken into consideration while we take forward our agenda of development. It should be a joint co-ordination between the state, Centre along with other agencies (like CIDCO, MHADA, BMC and MMRDA)," Mr Fadnavis said.
He said a separate cell has been set up in the CMO which is working towards the implementation of the plan.
"I have with me about 27 reports that speak about the investment potential of the region. One of the reports says there is a potential of about 50 billion dollars. Government is not saying this, but still... it is an encouraging figure," he said.
The chief minister added that a logistic park, estimated to generate a revenue of about Rs 2500 crore will be developed on 2,200 acres at Bhiwandi by regularising about 4,500 godowns in the area which are currently running illegally.