‘Make in India Week’ gets Rs.15 lakh crore investment commitment

Mumbai, Feb 18 (IANS) India's biggest manufacturing promotional till date at home - the Make in India Week - concluded here on Thursday with investment commitments of over Rs.15 lakh crore ($220 billion), the government said.

"The numbers are in. INR 15,20,000 Cr investment already committed at #MakeInIndia Week," the event's main organiser," the union Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said in a tweet.

"INR 1,05,000 crore of business enquirers generated during #MakeInIndia Week," another tweet said.

Enumerating the scale of the event, another tweet said: "8,90,000 visitors 8,245 B2B, B2G and G2G meetings 1,245 national and international speakers 215 exhibitors 102 nations".

Addressing the event's closing ceremony, DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant said: "Maharashtra will become the gateway of India".

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said over half of the investment commitments were for his state. "We have signed many memoranda of understanding with several companies across sectors to the tune of Rs.8 lakh crore during the Make In India Week," he said.

Of the total investments committed here, 30 percent are from foreign investors.

"We have already opened the economy across sectors to the world. We're now showcasing, connecting and collaborating for manufacturing in the country," Kant told reporters at the closing press meet.

The Maharashtra government had signed pacts worth Rs.6 lakh crore, which included large commitments from Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs.8,000 crore), Mercedes (Rs.4,270 crore), Panchshil (Rs.5,000 crore), JSW Jaigarh Port (Rs.6,000 crore) and RCF Chemicals (Rs.6,204 crore), among others.

On Thursday, it signed other deals worth over Rs.1,60,000 crore, which include commitments from CIDCO's two projects - Khalapur Smart City (Rs.7,909 crore)and townships in NAINA project area worth Rs.29,952 crore.

The state government has also received commitments from retail players like Future Group (Rs.850 crore), Trent Hypermarket (Rs.400 crore), D-Mart (Rs.250 crore), Metro Shoes (Rs.50 crore), Shoppers Stop (Rs.50 crore) and Major Brands (Rs.50 crore).

Karnataka received Rs.9,700 crore of investment proposals on Wednesday at the Make in India Week.

"The investments include Rs.6,000 crore by First Solar for a solar cell unit, Rs.2,284 crore by French firm Tar Kovacs Systems for an ocean-based renewable energy project and Rs.1,250 crore by Pert Telecom to make smart products and solutions for street lighting, IT security, surveillance and global positioning system (GPS)," an official statement said.

The event, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, saw many corporate houses announce their plans to Make in India, notably, Mahindra and Mahindra, the Sajjan Jindal Group, Mercedez-Benz, Godrej, Posco, Vedanta, Ikea and Tatas.

Several union ministers made their pitch for investments at the event, with Power Minister Piyush Goyal saying his sector needed $1 trillion in investment.

While Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan outlined the existing and future policies to attract funds into downstream and upstream oil projects, Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete unfolded a policy to nearly double the share of capital goods in exports to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, US agency Moody's Investors Service on Thursday forecast for India "stable GDP growth at around 7.5 percent in 2016 and 2017", saying the country is relatively less exposed to external headwinds, like the Chinese slowdown, and will benefit from lower commodity prices.

"India is relatively less exposed to external factors, including China slowdown and global capital flows. Instead, the economic outlook will be primarily determined by domestic factors," Moody's said in its report "Global Macro Outlook 2016-17 - Global growth faces rising risks at time of policy constraint."