Maharashtra more preferred destination for FDI: Deshmukh

Mumbai, Aug 21 (UNI) In the backdrop of Reserve Bank of India's observation in its report of 2006-07 that Maharashtra stands at number three position in attracting investments while Gujarat was first, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today claimed that the state has more investors than the neighbouring state and has more projects.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Deshmukh said many projects in the state have started on the 'self capital' and so they could not be included in the RBI report.

According to Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), Maharashtra is at premier position as far as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are concerned,'' he said.

He said last year, according to RBI bulletin, Maharashtra had Rs 26,947 crore of FDIs while Gujarat had Rs 24,531 crore and Tamil Nadu Rs 12,160 crore and the state was way ahead of Gujarat in all sectors.

The Chief Minister said as far as the number of projects was concerned this year Maharashtra was ahead of Gujarat as it had 142 projects while Gujarat had 86.

He said the state would retain its number one position as more infrastructural investments were expected in the state.

There are many infrastructural projects and ports in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as compared to Maharashtra, while the state has more investments in sectors like automobile, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, electronics, aviation, IT and bio technology.

UNI