Maharashtra opts for a facelift

Concerned by the steady slide in its status as an investment destination, Maharashtra has taken its first tentative steps towards a major makeover exercise.

To begin with, the state government wants a brand image for itself. Gujarat scored with its 'Vibrant Gujarat' branding, Kerala saw a tourist boom after its 'God's Own Country' positioning and Hyderabad's biotech fortunes soared with the 'Genome Valley' campaign. Accordingly, the state government is looking for branding on the lines of 'Resurgent Maharashtra' (also considered essential after the state lost Tata Motors' Nano project to its northern neighbour).

To this end, the state has roped in Ernst & Young (E&Y) to prepare a master plan. E&Y outbid KPMG to win the Rs 1.65 crore (Rs 16.5-million) contract from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

Sources familiar with the developments say the exercise is considered necessary because Maharashtra has slipped in terms of investment proposals against even smaller states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

According to data from the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Maharashtra (3,443), Gujarat (2,369) and Chhattisgarh (1,295) were the leading states in terms of the number of industrial entrepreneur memoranda filed between January 2005 and November 2009. In terms of the value of these investments, however, Maharashtra does not figure in the top three.

The three leading states are Gujarat (Rs 4,84,876 crore or Rs 4,848.76 billion), Karnataka (Rs 3,55,536 crore or Rs 3,555.36 billion) and Chhattisgarh (Rs 6,52,660 crore or Rs 6,526.6 billion).

For Maharashtra, the total investment proposals were worth Rs 3,00,837 crore (Rs 3,008.37 billion).

Maharashtra's industries minister Rajendra Darda says E&Y's mandate includes preparing a draft vision document for MIDC for the next 20 years (Vision 2030) and an action plan for the next seven years.

The consultancy will also define investment promotion strategies and an action plan for the state, suggest investment promotional and branding plan.

E&Y, which is expected to complete the exercise in 15 months, will also market investment opportunities in specific focus sectors such as port-centric development, textile, pharma, agro & food processing, automotives, IT, solar & renewable energy, education, power, infrastructure (Investment Regions, SEZ).

E&Y's immediate task would be to advise MIDC on organising the Global Investment Conference in Mumbai scheduled this month. The conference is intended to showcase the strengths and potential of Maharashtra to prospective domestic and overseas investors.

Sunil Chandiramani, national director (advisory services) of E&Y, says there could be a broadbased branding strategy for the state or sub brands for each of its strengths.