Nashik’s apex industry body urges CM Fadnavis to bring Davos investment projects to district

Nashik: Nashik's apex industry body, the Nashik Industries and Manufacturers' Association (Nima), has urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to allocate some of the major investment projects inked at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos to Nashik.A delegation led by Nima president Ashish Nahar met the chief minister during his visit to the city on Friday and sought his intervention in securing new industrial investments for the district.During the interaction, the delegation raised concerns over the slow pace of land acquisition being carried out by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). They told the chief minister that industrial growth in Nashik is facing serious constraints due to the lack of available industrial land.According to Nima, the MIDC's proposal for acquiring over 1,000 hectares for industrial use has been pending for several years, with very limited progress in recent times. Nahar said that, except for a few hectares acquired in the last two to three years, no substantial land procurement has taken place.Taking note of the concerns, chief minister Fadnavis immediately instructed the district administration, including collector Ayush Prasad, to expedite the land acquisition process and ensure that adequate land is made available at the earliest to facilitate industrial expansion.The delegation also invited the chief minister to inaugurate Nima's upcoming investment summit scheduled to be held in Nashik in the third week of March. The summit aims to attract high-value industrial projects and promote Nashik as a serious investment destination. Nahar said the chief minister has agreed to attend and expressed willingness to support the district in securing new investments. The exact date of the summit will be announced shortly.Speaking to TOI, Nahar said that their meeting with the chief minister was brief but productive. He pointed out that state govt had signed memorandums of understanding worth nearly Rs 30 lakh crore during the Davos summit. NIMA has requested that Nashik be considered favourably while allocating projects under these agreements. Nahar said the chief minister responded positively and assured the delegation that Nashik would not be overlooked in the upcoming investment allocations.Nahar added that Nashik's industrial growth potential is significant, but the land constraint must be resolved as a priority if the district is to benefit from large-scale investments. He expressed confidence that with direct intervention from the chief minister, the long-pending land acquisition hurdles would finally be addressed.