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Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh seems to be a man in a hurry as he jumps from one meeting to another and one city to another during his week-long tour of the United States.
And with good reason, too. As MNCs flock to India look for high-end brainpower and low-end prices, Maharashtra has seen most of the big players head for places like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, and a slew of second-tier cities, many of them outside of Maharashtra.
And Deshmukh realizes that the sate now has to play catch up. "We realized that to bring investment in to the state, we will have to market ourselves here," he said during an interaction in New York.
That was the reason, he said, that the delegation was not looking to meet any target on this visit. "Obviously the more we get, the better it is."
Which is why Deshmukh made an impassioned pitch to both the US-India Business Council and the Indian American Chambers of Commerce that Maharashtra was open for more business (read investment) and that his government would go out of its way to facilitate foreign investors.
"We cannot afford to be complacent," he said, trotting out figures as testimony to Maharashtra's pace as an economic leader in the Indian Union. "So we are coming up with new schemes such as tax concessions, we have already allotted spaces for special economic zones and expedited, single-window clearances for businesses."
However, he was quick to affirm that while he was rooting for Maharashtra, he "representing India."
There is competition among the different states, but I am also speaking for India," he said.
And at a community reception, he quipped "We are now replacing the red tape with a red carpet!"
Deshmukh who is accompanied by Industries and Culture Minster Ashok Chavan, and a team of high-ranking officials and businesspersons also sought to assuage businesspersons' concerns over the energy situation in the state, saying the government was now planning to give tax breaks to companies that would set up captive power units.
Later at a private breakfast meeting organized by businessman Andy Shenoy with the Lieutenant Governor of New York state Mary Donahue, Deshmukh invited
Donahue told Deshmukh that he should "ask more of all New Yorkers, ask all of us how to work with us New York will always be a friend."
Deshmukh also said that he would work towards giving Mumbai, the financial capital of India, an extreme makeover. "If you come after a few years, you will find a completely new Mumbai," he said. As for the controversial slum demolitions and its possible effect on migrant labor, crucial to the city's economy, he clarified that only those slum clusters that were impeding developmental works are being, and would be removed. "We are not looking to demolish every slum and where we are, we are also planning alternative housing."
As for the ongoing energy crisis, he revealed that an agreement had been reached to restart the defunct Dabhol power plant by July of 2006.
"We have spoken with GE and the Union government and we will be announcing a deal shortly to generate power for the state from the plant," he said, adding that the price per unit was likely to be fixed in the region of Rs 2.39.
"Of course, we are also taking care to put into the agreement conditions that will ensure the price of power from Dabhol remains stable."
Industries Minister Chavan said that even during the shortage, power supply to the industries was not unimpaired. "We are making sure that the industries don't suffer; also, areas that have been paying their dues regularly a lesser amount of the load-shedding," he said.
Deskhmukh also pointed to major developmental works underway, especially the Mumbai Urban Renewal project, and called for even greater foreign investment in the infrastructure sector. "We don't have a target yet, not for this visit at least, of how much we want, but we don't have any limits either," he said. "This visit is just to meet with potential investors and showcase Maharashtra, to market our state."
During his trip, Deshmukh will travel with his team to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and will then go on to Atlanta, where he will be the chief guest at the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal or North America's annual convention 2005 July 1 through July 4.