Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said the city needed an exhibition centre to organise global summits, fairs, and road shows and serve as a support infrastructure for the export sector. The State government has shortlisted plots in Byculla and Mulund to construct a world-class exhibition-cum-convention centre. The revenue department give a presentation on the selected locations to Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta on January 15. The proposal would then be tabled before the Cabinet for approval, officials said. “We have two locations in mind, Byculla and Mulund, where the centre could come up on a large area. The honourable Chief Minister had earlier suggested Navi Mumbai as a possible location, but we find these alternatives equally suitable,” said a senior official of the revenue department. Officials said MAITRI is an initiative to facilitate Ease of Doing Business and attract global investments. It will work jointly with international businesses and organise summits, fairs, exhibitions, road shows for promotion of the Magnetic Maharashtra event. The aim of the policy is to attract investments of over Rs.10 lakh crore and create around 40 lakh jobs by 2023-24, the then minister for industries and mining Subhash Desai had said, reiterating the goal to turn Maharastra into a trillion dollar economy.
