Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that due to rapid growth in innovation, artificial intelligence, startups and infrastructure, the state is in a position to overtake the economies of Singapore and UAE in the next two to three years. He said that Maharashtra is not competing with any other Indian state, because it has already become the 30th largest economy in the world. Speaking at the ‘ImagineX 2026’ event organized at Jio World Center here, Fadnavis said Maharashtra has emerged as the startup and unicorn capital of India, and is now the leading state in the country in terms of research, innovation and economic growth.
How big is the economy of Maharashtra?
During a conversation, he said that Maharashtra is currently a $660 billion economy, and is the Indian state closest to achieving the goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy. The Chief Minister said that Maharashtra’s economy has grown from about Rs 14 lakh crore in 2015 to Rs 54 lakh crore today, which shows an increase of more than three times in the last decade. Fadnavis said, “Maharashtra is not competing with any other Indian state. It has already become the 30th largest economy in the world, and in the next two to three years it will overtake the economies of Singapore and UAE.” He said the state has maintained an average growth rate of about 10 percent, and is expected to achieve the target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030, despite some short-term challenges arising from conditions like El Nino.
Getting a boost from AI
Fadnavis said that technology and artificial intelligence are working as “force multipliers” for the development of Maharashtra. He further said that the state government has created a separate AI department and commissionerate to promote the use of AI in both governance and industry. He said AI-based systems are already being used in the criminal justice system, making the entire process from crime scene investigation to charge sheet filing completely digital and blockchain-enabled. The CM said the government has prepared a long-term “Developed Maharashtra 2047” vision document, which includes short-term goals for 2030, medium-term goals for 2035 and long-term goals for 2047. To monitor its implementation, the state has created a “vision management unit” and created 2,000 data points for different government departments, he said.
Use of AI in farming
Fadnavis said that Maharashtra has achieved the rate of conversion of MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) into investment at 55-60 percent, while the national average is 35 percent. At the same time, the rate of implementation of the agreements reached in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has been 85 percent. He further said that every investment proposal is monitored through a special relationship manager and a ‘war-room’ system. Highlighting the use of AI in farming, Fadnavis said the government’s ‘MahaVistaar’ app has been downloaded by 50 lakh farmers and it provides farming related services with the help of AI. He said that this app also supports Bhili tribal language, so that tribal farmers can get advice in their mother tongue. CM Fadnavis said that India’s population is young and ambitious, in which more than 65 percent of the people are below 35 years of age. Therefore, adopting AI will not be difficult.
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