Davos push: Maharashtra’s Rs 30 lakh crore MoUs to create 30 lakh jobs; Tata Group's $11billion anchors Innovation City

NAGPUR/MUMBAI: The Tata Group has pledged to invest $11 billion in developing the ecosystem for India's first ‘Innovation City' near Navi Mumbai airport, said CM Devendra Fadnavis at World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Thursday.The contours of this Innovation City, which will offer plug-and-play facilities to researchers and innovators across the globe to start operations, have been drawn, he said. Detailed planning will take place in the next six months, after which work is expected to begin. The CM said MoUs worth Rs 30 lakh crore have been inked so far at WEF, up from Rs 15.7 lakh crore last year. Preliminary talks have been held for additional investments of Rs 7-10 lakh crore and these are likely to be finalised next month, he said. He said those criticising his eight-member delegation's visit to Davos are jealous of Maharashtra's success and of the agreements inked. SBG, Brookefield, Finmin Global, Arcelor Mittal, STT Telemedia, Coca Cola, Tata, Reliance, Adani, JBL, Bosch, Capital Land are among the companies from 18 countries with which the state govt has signed deals. The investments are in sectors such as artificial intelligence, data centres, quantum processing, renewable energy, green skill, electric vehicles, urban transformation, green steel, shipbuilding, sustainability, fintech, digital infrastructure and textiles. "Of the investments, 83% is FDI, while 16% is with foreign entities in emerging industries and some are for import substitution," said Fadnavis. These deals collectively have the potential to create 30 lakh jobs, he said. Fadnavis said Maharashtra will also be the first in the country to set up small modular reactors (SMR) for generating atomic electricity. The initiative is in line with the passage of Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill in Parliament. The state has held talks with govt nuclear energy entities in India and Russia. The power generated through SMRs will fulfil the demand of data centres that would come up at Innovation City, he said. Pushing back against criticism of his tour to Davos, where deals with some Maharashtra-based companies have been signed, Fadnavis said he had made note of "paid toolkit campaigns on social media to churn out a fake narrative". "We ignore people with small minds and small hearts, but we will eventually expose them," the CM said in a virtual address. Fadnavis said in 2020-21, during MVA govt's term, the value of the signed Davos MoUs was around Rs 80,000 crore, while the current team is driving Mumbai towards becoming the global No. 1 hub for data centres. He said Davos is a platform that broadcasts every deal to the entire world. "There is global visibility. The data centre deal involves 80% FDI, with only 20% being local investment in the form of land. Global companies plan their board meetings around the summit, making it the most efficient venue for finalising international contracts." On signing an MoU with the Lodha Group in Davos, Fadnavis said the agreement involves four of the world's most significant companies investing in data centres, which are badly needed. On the various political deals happening in MMR, he said he would take stock of these agreements once he returns home. The state has also signed an MoU with US-based Supervity AI to set up the world's first AI Global Capability Centre (GCC) hub in BKC. The hub will allow enterprises to safely experiment, deploy AI-driven operating models across front, middle, and back-office functions, support the development of AI-first operating frameworks aligned with global regulatory and compliance standards and foster a robust ecosystem of AI talent, solution partners, and enterprise adopters. "The initiative positions Maharashtra as a global pioneer in the evolution of enterprise operations—from labour-centric shared services to AI-native operational models," said Kaustubh Kalyankar, chief business officer of Supervity AI.