In Davos: State inaugurates pavilion at WEF, seeks investment

The Maharashtra state delegation on Sunday inaugurated its pavilion at Davos. The state is participating as a part of Team India at World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos, representing the state’s role in building the $5 trillion economy for India.

The state delegation comprises ministers Subhash Desai, Nitin Raut and Aaditya Thackeray and bureaucrats including Ashish Kumar Singh, Baldev Singh, Vijay Singhal and P Anbalagan.

The state delegation has a series of high-powered meetings lined up with global CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and hopes to mobilise huge investments in Maharashtra. Some of the key investors that the state met today are Suntory, a global beverage company that is leading efforts in sustainable packaging; UPL, a multinational major in chemicals who are investing in 250 acres of land in Raigad district of the state, among others.

The state also signed an MoU with the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and initiated the Maharashtra Plastic Action Partnership

(Maharashtra PAP), which will serve as a roadmap for sustainable development in the state. Maharashtra was the first state to ban single use plastic in 2018 and has been at the forefront in sustainable development with aggressive policies and action plans to balance development and climate change.

Aaditya said, "Maharashtra is now the first sub national government member of GPAP of the WEF. We believe that this is the decade of action."

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) CEO P Anbalagan said, "Maharashtra had launched the Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 program for attracting investments in the state. So far, in the 9 editions of the MM 2.0 initiative, Maharashtra, under the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been able to attract Rs 1.89 lakh crore in new investments in addition to an FDI of more that Rs 2 lakh crore, highest in India. The MIDC plans to execute the 10th edition of Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 at the WEF.’’