The Maharashtra government on Saturday announced a draft policy in the defence and aerospace sector to attract an investment of over $5 billion over the next five years.
"Maharashtra is the first state to frame a policy for defence manufacturing after private investment has been allowed," Fadnavis said at a press conference.
The highlight of the policy is a Rs 1,000-crore fund to help manufacturers in the defence sector. The state-run Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), IDBI, SBI Capital will help set up the fund. The proposed investment is expected in Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.
When we presented our draft policy before the investors and manufacturers at the ‘Defence and Aerospace: Make with Maharashtra' conference here today, their response was positive. We will finalise it soon after incorporating today's discussions.Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra
The proposed policy would majorly help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of the state and if need be, the limit of the corpus could be increased, Fadnavis added.
Manufacturers in the private sector have made a few suggestions, including one on treating this sector as essential services, the chief minister said, adding that the state government will take a decision on this demand after consultations with Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The government aims to create one lakh jobs in the state over this period under the policy, the Maharashtra chief minister added.
Parrikar said that this fund could be a game changer for the sector and aid the Make in Maharashtra initiative. One of the factors that would help Maharashtra get investment commitments in defence sector was that “the law and order in Maharashtra was good”, he added.
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