Do business in Maharashtra – a series

Maharashtra State is the third largest state in India in terms of area. Maharashtra stretches over 3, 07,690 sq. km area. This represents 10% of the country’s area. As per the 2011 census the population of Maharashtra State’s is ------. The Arabian Sea makes up the State’s Western Coast, it is known as Kokan Region. The State capital Mumbai is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the world.

Maharashtra State has six Administrative Divisions which comprises Konkan, Pune, Nasik, Aurangabad, Amaravati & Nagpur. The State enjoys tropical monsoon climate. The State is home to major rivers: Krishna, Bhima, Godawari, Tapi, Purna, Wardha and Wainganga.

Agriculture and Horticulture, Food Processing, Floriculture, Automobiles, Biotechnology, Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Oil & Gas, Dye Stuff Industry, Engineering, Media & Entertainment, Television Industry, Film Entertainment, Radio, Music, Broadcast, Satellite, Cable and Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Tourism, Water Recycling, Paper & Paper Products, Printing & Publishing, Rubber, Plastic, Machinery, Transport Equipments, Financial Services, Electrical & Non Electrical Machinery, Wine, Jewelry, contribute substantially to the income and industrial growth of the Maharashtra State.

·        Business climate     

Robust Infrastructure

Reliable cost-effective telecom connectivity

11% of national road network – road length 246 thousand km

9% of national railway network – 6 thousand km

10% of India’s coastline

34% of India’s International Passengers and Cargo handle by State Airports

56% of container traffic handled by JNPT in Maharashtra

4 International Airports as well as, 21 domestic airport at all major cities

·         Conducive Business environment

State IT policy

State SEZ policy

State Biotechnology policy

Tourism policy

Infrastructure policy

E-governance policy

·        Strong service sector

62% service contribute to the State’s economy

20% produces country’s software exports

32% produces country’s IT professionals

90% of all merchant banking activities take place in Mumbai

56% accounts of SEZ exports from Santacruz Electronics Export processing zone (SEEPZ). 571 largest number of 100% export – orientation units (EDUs)

·        Strong Industrial Base

20% contributes to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)

27% of India’s exports are from Maharashtra

Maharashtra State ranks 1^st in 12 out of 35 sectors in terms of value of output and ranks among the top three in 25 sectors.

217 industrial complexes, with 125 thousand acres (50 thousand hectors) of land specialized parks for different sectors, including IT.

80% of India’s wines production is in the State

15% of the total number of manufacturing units in India is located in Maharashtra State

The State has over 1, 68,319 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

35% of the total industrial investment in the State is in the MSM Enterprise sector

19% of the total approved SEZs in the country i.e. 146 are in the Maharashtra State.

65 IT parks in private sector are in the State

Over 15 lakh employment is generation through MSME & 15 sector

Over last 3 years, the Mega Project Policy of the State has successfully attracted an investment of over 1 lac crore, mainly in the Steel, Automobiles & Textile sectors. 

·        Education

The State’s education network consists of 10 universities over 1 thousand 8 hundred higher education institutions. The State has over 600 engineering colleges. In addition, there are 650 Industrial Training Institutes, and 55 architecture colleges. One of the IITs is located at Mumbai. The State also has a number of reputed National R & D Institutions; It includes Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, National Environment Engineering Research Institute, National Chemical Laboratories, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

·        health

The State’s health network consists of 253 medical institutes and 136 nursing colleges. The network of public & Government aided health facilities in the State comprises 1100 hospitals, 2100 dispensaries, and 1900 primary health centers. The number of beds in various institutes in the State is above one lakh.

·        power   

A large number of hydroelectric as well as thermal power plants have been set up across the State. The installed capacity in the state is 13,000 MW. The peak requirement for power in the state stood at 17500 MW. The state has a captive electricity generation capacity of 1000 MW. The industrial sector is the largest consumer followed by domestic and then agriculture.

Thus Maharashtra is most industrialized state. It has very diversified industrial base. It has got largest network of industrial areas. The state boasts of a very vibrant industrial sector and rapidly growing services sector. Both these sectors presently contribute about 86% of the state’s domestic product. The agriculture & allied activities sector contributes just 14% of the state’s income. Mumbai; the capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India houses headquarter of the almost all major financial institutions, insurance companies & mutual funds. India’s premier stock exchange i.e. the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange and Commodity Exchange are located in Mumbai. The state has become a leading automobile production hub and a major IT growth centre.