M'rashtra gets kudos from Tata, also warning

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata while giving a round of applause to the Maharashtra government for maintaining its position as the No 1 state in the country, warned it about the overstretched infrastructure and the non-availability of skilled manpower. It could put spanner in the state's growth story, he added.

Maharashtra pulled a coup of sorts on Tuesday at New York when they roped in one of the most respected names from Indian business world Ratan Tata to do the sales pitch for the state at the Maharashtra Investment Forum.

While addressing a gathering 400-odd investment bankers, industrialists and, movers and shakers of American corporate world.

Tata highlighted that the group's large chunk of operations are in Maharashtra and expressed faith in the state government. He said, we look forward to expanding our operations in Maharashtra.

However, he sounded a note of caution that the present government will have to put in extra efforts in addressing the issues of stretched infrastructure and lack of incentives.

He also desired that the government needs to ensure balanced growth across the state. He felt it is necessary to take steps to ensure that everyone across the state whether in the urban or in rural area, need to reap the benefits of development.

This can be done by ensuring that adequate opportunities are created in agro-processing, service sectors including logistics, retail and areas other than IT. He felt it is also necessary to ensure that the growth does not slow down on account of the lack of adequate skilled persons.

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh promised that his government was seized of the issues concerning the investors and his government had already initiated short term as well as long term measures to tackle these issues.

The state government is committed to ensuring that the infrastructure keeps pace with development, Deshmukh said.

The measures initiated on this front necessitate tremendous investment and it is in this context that the state has come to enlighten the investors of the opportunities that exist for investment in the state, he added.