Pawar warns PM on favouring Guj over Mumbai

Centre moves financial body to Gandhinagar, NCP leader cites Maha prowess

Opposition to the Centre’s decision to move the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) from Mumbai to Gandhinagar in Gujarat has been growing in Maharashtra.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke the decision and relocate the centre to Mumbai. In a hard-hitting letter written to the Prime Minister, the NCP chief has warned him about the perils of ignoring Mumbai’s claims for the IFSC. “It will not only cause financial damage to the country, but also bring international discredit to it by undermining the importance of Mumbai,” he said.

“The IFSC authority is a unified agency to regulate all international financial services in the country. Mumbai, being the country’s economic, financial and commercial capital, is the best choice for it,” Mr Pawar told the PM in the letter.

Emphasizing on Mumbai’s importance, the veteran leader said the city has been recognised as one of the world’s top 10 centres of commerce in terms of global financial flow, generating 6.16 per cent of India’s GDP and accounting for 25 per cent of industrial output and 70 per cent of capital transactions to the Indian economy.

Mr Pawar, citing the Reserve Bank of India report, stated the Indian banking sector has deposits to the tune of `1,45,00,000 crore. Maharashtra’s share in the deposits is 22.8 per cent, followed by Delhi (10 per cent), UP (7.8 per cent), Karnataka (7.2 per cent) and Gujarat (5.4 per cent), he said.

“If you see the general psyche of all business communities, bankers and other financial institutions, Mumbai is their natural choice for setting up such unified authority. The Centre’s decision will be taken as an act of undermining the importance of Mumbai that boasts as the nation’s financial capital. Even the financial institutions across the world will be taken aback,” the NCP chief stated.