Maharashtra lets industries except in the red zones restart operations

“Except red zone, industries in other parts of the state are slowly resuming operations. About 57,754 industrial units had applied to the state seeking permission to start operations. We have issued all the permissions and over 24,486 industries have resumed work. Over 6,50,000 workers have joined work,” Desai said at a webinar organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).

Desai said in the next few days, all 57,000 industries that have got permission will start operations. “In western Maharashtra, 9,147 industries have been given permission to start work of which 5,774 have started operations. The state government is keen to ensure the resumption of operations by all industrial sectors. However, the first fight is against coronavirus and hence there should not be any hurry to start operations in red zones” he said.

However, since the main business centres of Mumbai, Thane and Pune continue to fall in the red zone due to the rising number of Covid-19 patients, these areas continue to be out of bunds for industrial establishments. 

Desai, like chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, expressed the hope that the entire state will fall under green zone by May-end.

The minister also said that the state government is holding discussions with representatives from various countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, to tap foreign investment opportunities.

He said the centre is expected to announce a package for the MSME sector in the state and that discussions are on with central ministers, including Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal.

Several US firms with operations in China are looking to India post-Covid-19 and Mumbai is on high alert, sources said.