Companies queue up to invest in Maharashtra.

Impressed by the state government's efforts to facilitate the ease of doing business, a number of companies have expressed an interest to invest in Maharashtra, claimed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Fadnavis, who has recently returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said international companies, such as Microsoft, GE, Cognizant, Schindler, Nestle, Nomura, JP Morgan, Japanese agency Jetro, Toray International, Safran and Credit Suisse, are upbeat about Maharashtra's pre-eminence in attracting investments and have welcomed a number of decisions taken by the state government to reduce red tape and simplify procedures.

The chief minister Fadnavis told reporters Microsoft will set up cloud data centres in Mumbai and Pune with a total investment of Rs. 2,100 crore.

He said, 'Microsoft officials at our meeting also agreed to do a pilot project for digital identity wherein a common card - taking Aadhar as the base card - will have the details of all documents like driving licence and passport.'

According to Fadnavis, the government has already handed over the land-allotment letter to Cognizant for their planned expansion, which could add more than 20,000 jobs over the next few years, in Pune.

'The reason why Cognizant zeroed in on Pune is because the quality of the workforce is the best not only as compared to other states in India but also many global cities,' said Fadnavis.


BS