Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said that only 11 of the 54 companies with which Maharashtra government signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in Davos during the World Economic Forum are foreign, while the remaining 43 are Indian.
According to news agency PTI, while addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Thackeray said Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis could have balanced the signing of MoU with meetings with heads of state and federal governments as well as social entrepreneurs instead of spending Rs 20-25 crore on the Davos trip.
“Let me assure you there is no other place in the world like Davos for global networking, especially for an industrial and progressive state like Maharashtra,” he said, adding that people must not be fooled by public relation exercises over the MoUs.
“In total, MoUs have been signed with 54 companies across the board in Davos by the Government of Maharashtra. Of these, 43 companies are Indian, while 11 are foreign companies. Of the 43 companies, 31 are located in Maharashtra,” Thackeray pointed out.
The Maharashtra government stated that 61 MoUs have been signed during the World Economic Forum entailing investment of Rs 15.70 lakh crore, which could potentially create 16 lakh jobs.
The CM`s staff and office misaligned his programme and somewhere ensured that this trip was mired with the MoUs signed, Thackeray claimed.
`Why has government not organised Magnetic Maharashtra?`
According to PTI, Thackeray also said that such MoUs could have been signed at the `Magnetic Maharashtra` event, which incidentally has not been held for the past two years.
He questioned why the state government has not organised `Magnetic Maharashtra` to attract investments when other states such as Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are holding such events.
Many of the MoUs signed at Davos, especially the ones with realtors, were not necessary because they had already bought land and the investment would have come any which way, Thackeray claimed.
According to PTI, Thackeray also took a dig at what he claimed were “laughable” MoUs and said that “next time, even road contractors will be taken to Davos“.
During the press conference, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader slammed state Industries Minister Uday Samant for reaching Davos late and coming back to India early.
Samant was not even present during the inauguration of the Maharashtra Pavilion at Davos, Thackeray alleged. He also ridiculed Eknath Shinde and said that the Deputy CM was not a part of the delegation to the Swiss country despite the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and City And Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) — which are part of his Urban Development portfolio — being involved in some of the MoUs signed.
(With PTI inputs)
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