Central government should set investment criteria: Thackeray

There is a competition among the states to attract investors, who take advantage of this and negotiate with the state governments. Raising the issue at a meeting of the NITI Aayog, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that there should be competition among states to give them facilities, not to give discounts to investors.

Addressing the meeting of the Steering Committee of NITI Aayog headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uddhav Thackeray said that there should be competition with external countries in terms of industry and business, not fierce competition between states. For this, the Center should encourage competition on attractive parameters for efficiency and investment. The Chief Minister said that some states make attractive offers of power concessions or location rates. Negotiation is done. If certain states are willing to give these things, then you are asked what you will give. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that there should be competition among states, but all the states should benefit not only financially, but also on the administrative efficiency and facilities available in the states. The Center should set some criteria in terms of investment. We should not only think about investing in the nature of money, but also consider how much employment will be available. Only then will we be able to become self-sufficient in the true sense.

During this time he also raised the issue of the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector and called for a change in the Central’s crop insurance scheme. We need to be called Jai Kamgar besides Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan. The central government should set some criteria about investment so that states compete with other countries, not among themselves. Notwithstanding the adverse circumstances of the Kovid era, Maharashtra entered into a reconciliation agreement (MoU) worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore. Even though growth slowed, it did not stop. On the contrary, we have continued the economic cycle in other ways. Highlighting the impact of climate change on agriculture, he said that farmers are suffering its biggest brunt.