Industry department to come up with white paper on MOUs and investments

MUMBAI: State industries minister Uday Samant on Saturday announced in the legislative council that the state government will release a white paper on MOUs and investments in Maharashtra.

“We will come up with a white paper on how many MOUs were signed in the last three years, and what is the status of those investment proposals; and how many industries came to Maharashtra and how many of these went away from the state, and why,” said Samant.

He also informed the house that a ₹4000-crore investment, related to the supporting industry for vehicle manufacturing, will come to the state.

The leader of opposition, from Shiv Sena (UBT), raised the issue of low response from investors to the new industrial townships in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Speaking on this issue, Congress MLC Abhijit Wanjari demanded that the Mahayuti government should come up with a white paper on the MOUs signed in Davos and the status of the investments proposed by those MOUs.

Samant used this demand for a white paper to corner the Shiv Sena (UBT) and target the then environment minister of the MVA government, Aaditya Thackeray, who went on the Davos tour. “I welcome the demand for a white paper on MOUs signed in Davos. Three years back, a delegation of ministers from the MVA government went to Davos. They signed MOUs worth ₹80,000. Of that, ₹16,000 crore of MOUs were with MIDC and ₹50,000 crore MOUs were on energy projects. But the person who signed the MOU for the state government for the ₹50,000 crore investment has been missing since then,” he said.

Samant also informed the house that the Mahayuti government signed MOUs of ₹3,72,000 crore in Davos this year.