Industry seeking land in specific areas creates artificial scarcity: MIDC CEO

Pune: Firms willing to invest in the state often demand land in specific locations, creating a shortage of plots govt could readily offer, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) CEO P Velrasu said on Tuesday."MIDC has sufficient land. The question is — where does the industry actually want it? Each sector has its own requirements," Velrasu said during the concluding session of the Pune International Business Summit 2026, organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).Citing the Dighi industrial estate as an example, he said while MIDC had more than 7,500 acres available there, automobile manufacturers were not interested in setting up units in that area. "Most prefer locations like Chakan, where land is already fully occupied. Even so, MIDC managed to create a dedicated vehicle manufacturing zone in Talegaon," he said.Similarly, data bank and data centre operators prefer to set up units in Navi Mumbai or select pockets of Pune. Navi Mumbai has emerged as a major national hub for data centres, and due to its proximity to Mumbai, land prices there are already very high. "That is it. They are not interested in going anywhere else. There are four to five firms chasing the same piece of land. This drives up prices," Velrasu said.He said state govt was working to reduce bureaucratic hurdles by decentralising approval processes. MIDC is also consolidating nearly 150 legacy circulars that have long complicated business operations.According to Velrasu, about 70% of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed in Maharashtra eventually translate into actual investments. These MoUs include land allotments as well as incentives related to taxes, stamp duty and subsidies on electricity and water.It generally takes five to six years from the signing of an MoU for a manufacturing plant to become operational. "All developments under these agreements are monitored through a structured financial auditing mechanism," he added.