Maha CM Shinde packs bags for Davos WEF, targets investments of Rs 3.10 lakh cr

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will fly to Davos late on Monday night for his second trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, targetting investments worth more than Rs 3.10 lakh crore for his state, an official said here.

This will be more than double of the investment commitment agreements worth Rs 1.37 lakh crore signed during his maiden trip to the famed holiday resort in Switzerland in January 2023, of which nearly "76 per cent contracts have materialised" so far.

"Emerging as India's economic flagship, Maharashtra attracts one-third of all foreign investment in the country. This significant performance is a testament to our strong economic policies and favorable environment created for investors," remarked Shinde on Monday in a pre-departure social media post.

At the WEF 2024 meet in Davos from January 15-19, Shinde has lined up an impressive schedule of meetings with top Indian and global corporate honchos, diplomats, world leaders and others attending seminars, besides various WEF programmes.

On Wednesday, CM Shinde will meet Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, Michael Zahm of Amazon Web Services, Prince of Liechtenstein Hans-Adam II, the top executives of Hitachi Group, Carlsberg, Dassault Systems, Volvo, and more.

The state government will sign MoUs with eight companies and hold discussions with representatives of other major global conglomerates, industry experts and associations, media groups, potential investors, plus political leaders attending the WEF. Among those slated to meet Shinde are the Industry Minister of Oman, Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia, Energy Minister of South Africa, South Korea's Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-Yeon, executives of DP World, UAE, Louis Dreyfus Company of The Netherlands, Witkowitz Atomica of Czechia, Capgemini SE of France, AP Moller Maersk of Denmark, Ball Corporation, USA, and members of the WEF's Agriculture & Food Processing Group.

The CM will deliver a speech on 'Challenges in Civil Sector, Innovation & Sustainable Development' at the main event in the WEF convention centre and join a seminar on 'Agriculture, Women's Participation & Food Security', a CII convention and host a banquet for various dignitaries on Wednesday evening.

Ahead of the departure, Industry Minister Uday Samant said that "this would be the CM's historic trip to Davos when a record amount of investment would be attracted to the state".

Soon after landing in Davos, the CM will inaugurate the state-of-the-art Maharashtra Pavilion set up near the India Hall, where the delegation is expected to hold all important meetings and sign various agreements.

Aiming for effective branding of the state on the world stage, the Maharashtra Pavilion has meeting rooms with all facilities and there will be an audio-visual exhibition providing information on horse-racing in the state.

An official said that through these MoUs, the CM is keen to attract value-adding industries like steel, IT, IT-related sectors, nuclear energy and renewable power, green hydrogens, diamonds and jewellery, data centres, logistics, agro-industrial, agriculture and forest produce, with scope for generating employment and boosting local industries for all-round development of the state.

At the CII conference on Thursday, the state plans to sign 20 MoUs worth around Rs 2.50 lakh-crore, which could increase with major companies, and the investments would come not only to the traditional Mumbai-Pune regions, but also new locations like Raigad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Jalna and the Maoist-hit Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts.