Maharashtra to become a $1 trillion economy by 2028-2030: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during a meeting with Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Maharashtra will become a $1 trillion economy by 2028-2030, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the inaugural session of the World Hindu Economic Forum’s annual conference held on Friday at Mumbai.

“We aspire to become a trillion dollar economy by 2028 – 2030, and for this we have formed an economic advisory council. We have had discussion on how to accelerate Maharashtra’s economic growth with the council,” Mr. Fadnavis said while speaking at the event. The statement assumes significance as the State’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) without accounting for inflation is ₹42.7 lakh crore or $500 billion, going by the numbers in the Budget document.

Mr. Fadnavis met with chairperson of Tata Sons N. Chandrasekaran to discuss about the goal of reaching a $1 trillion economy. In his post on social media platform X, Mr. Fadnavis said, “N. Chandrasekaran ji, chairman of Tata Sons met me earlier today at my residence. He congratulated me and expressed confidence of a long term partnership between the Tata Group and the govt. of Maharashtra. We discussed various ways of accelerating Maharashtra’s growth. As the Chairman of Maharastra Economic Advisory Council, his work and that of 20 Top CEOs of Maharashtra resulted in a report that was submitted last year. This report is going to be a key enabler as we embark on the ambitious 1 trillion dollar economy goal for the State.”

Speaking on the factors to reach the target, Mr. Fadnavis said that the speed of travel and speed of data will determine the growth. Mr. Fadnavis said stressing the need for India to become a player in the global supply chain. He highlighted the work undertaken in the 700 Km of greenfield road between Nagpur-Mumbai highway in a way that connects 16 districts to JNPT port. “These 16 districts will benefit from port-led development” he said.

Mr. Fadnavis further asserted that the new Vadhavan port will be thrice as big as the JNPT port which currently handles 60% of India’s container traffic. “Even the world’s biggest ship can be anchored at this port,” he said adding that it would contribute to India’s aim of becoming a maritime power. He further lauded the government’s efforts in completing the 22 km sea link, connecting Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, within just five years.

In the area of speed of data, Mr. Fadnavis suggested that “Mumbai and Maharashtra should be a data capital” asserting that nearly two-thirds of India’s data centre capacity is in Maharashtra alone and expressed confidence that this would increase in the future.

Speaking about artificial intelligence, he referred to the technology as a positive disruption and underlined that it had to be embraced. “Technology is like a horse. If you sit on a horse and travel, it will increase our speed. We must not be afraid of the horse,” he said.