Ours is an industry-friendly government: Shinde

Thane, Jan 4 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Saturday that Maharashtra has a business-friendly government and asserted that no industry has left the state in the recent past.

He was speaking after the conclusion of a two-day ‘Business Jatra (fare)’ in Thane city.

Labelling the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government a “lockdown government”, he alleged that it had stalled progress.

“We are an industry-friendly government and will do anything for the growth of industries,” said Shinde, who became the CM in 2022 after his rebellion in Shiv Sena split the party and sunk the MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray.

Amid the opposition’s claim that many big-ticket projects have been diverted to Gujarat, Shinde said, "In the recent period, no industry has left Maharashtra, and we will not allow this to happen.” He listed out many mega projects completed when he was the CM for two and a half years.

The Shiv Sena chief shared an anecdote about an industrialist whose business thrived after he inaugurated a project. “I could have asked for royalty for his growth, but I work without royalty,” he quipped.

Shinde, who took oath as a deputy CM after BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was made the CM following Mahayuti’s impressive win in the 2024 assembly polls, said, “Earlier, I was CM, a common man. Now, as DCM, I am Dedicated to the Common Man.” The BJP, Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP are the partners in the ruling Mahayuti coalition. PTI COR NR