Ratan Tata meets Maharashtra chief secretary

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, on Monday assured the Maharashtra government that his group would cooperate fully to spur growth in the state.

Tata made the promise at an hour-long meeting with Maharashtra Chief Secretary J S Saharia, at the latter’s office in Mantralaya, the state secretariat.

Tata’s meeting was in response to the state government’s call to the private sector for increasing their participation in various developmental works in the state. Saharia, while speaking to Business Standard, confirmed his meeting with Tata.

“Tata praised efforts made by the government and its undertaking, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in particular, to promote industrial growth. He said he would cooperate with the government to promote industries, especially in under-developed Nagpur and Aurangabad and provide necessary amenities there. He also assured the group’s cooperation to promote vocational education in the state and also, construction of quality schools,” a government official told Business Standard.

 

Further, the official informed that Tata made a strong case for a comprehensive policy to promote hotels, tourism and aviation. He insisted that Maharashtra, with tremendous potential, could put in place a policy to promote tourism and attract more and more tourists on the lines of Malaysia and Singapore.

Monday’s meeting between Tata and the chief secretary comes at a time when the government is in the midst of implementing its new industrial policy announced last year and a slew of infrastructure projects in the state while keeping its pre-eminence in attracting investments.

Tata Group companies currently have a presence in the field of energy, education, information technology, hotel and tourism and social sectors. Besides,  Tata Power is implementing a 1,600 Mw imported coal-based power project in Raigad district and it has proposed the conversion of a gas-cum-oil-based 250 Mw unit at Trombay into a coal-based one.

Saharia assured Tata that he would soon organise an interactive session with secretaries of various departments to take the Tata Group’s cooperation to concrete level.

Ratan Tata meets Maharashtra chief secretary