HEAD OFFICE - WESTERN REGION

The Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Bengal Chemicals Compound
502 Veer Savarkar Marg
Prabhadevi
Mumbai 400025
Tel:- +91 (22) 2436 8186 – 90
Fax: +91 (22) 2436 8191 / 2438 2716
Email: iicci@indiaitaly.com
Website: www.indiaitaly.com

COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT

Regional Background

Maharashtra

Maharashtra's is India's leading industrial state contributing 13 per cent of national industrial output. 64.14 per cent of the people are employed in agriculture and allied activities and almost 46 per cent of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) is contributed by industry. Major industries in Maharashtra include chemical and allied products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum and allied products. Other important industries include metal products, wine, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, machine tools, steel and iron castings and plastic wares. Foodcrops include mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and pulses. Cash crops include groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, turmeric, and tobacco.

Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, houses the headquarters of almost all major banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and mutual funds in India.

India's largest stock exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest in Asia, is also located in the city. After the successes in information technology in the neighbouring states, Maharashtra has set up software parks in Pune, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Nasik: now Maharashtra is the second largest exporter of software with annual exports of Rs 18 000 cr (20 per cent of India's software exports).

Mumbai is also the centre of India's Hindi film and television industry, Bollywood, whose films are multi-million dollar productions.

Maharashtra ranks first nationwide in coal-based thermal electricity as well as nuclear electricity generation with national market shares of over 13 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.
The State is also introducing Jatropha cultivation and has started a project for the identification of suitable sites for plantations.

The Indian Railways covers most of the Maharashtra and is the preferred mode of transport over long distances. Almost the entire state comes under the Central Railways branch which is headquartered in Mumbai. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses, link most of the towns and villages and have a large network of operation. In addition to the government run buses, private run luxury buses are also a popular mode of transport between major towns.

Mumbai has the biggest international airport in Maharashtra with another coming up at Navi Mumbai. Pune has a limited capacity international airport with flights to Dubai and Singapore, with plans for a brand new greenfield International Airport. Other large cities such as Nagpur and Aurangabad are served by domestic airlines. Ferry services also operate near Mumbai, linking the city to neighbouring coastal towns.

Maharashtra has a large highway network and recently built the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first controlled-access toll road project in India. Maharashtra has three major ports at Mumbai (operated by the Mumbai Port Trust), which handles the export of ores mined in the Maharastra hinterland.

Gujarat

Major agricultural produce of Gujarat include cotton, peanuts, dates, sugar cane, milk and milk products and is the main producer of tobacco, cotton and groundnut in the country. Industrial products include cement, and petrol.

The worlds largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world's largest grass roots refinery. The company has also planned another SEZ(special economic zone), in Jamnagar.

Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8 per cent and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1 per cent.

Gujarat provides inputs for important industries like textiles, oil and soap. Other important cash crops are isabgol (psyllium seed husk), paddy, wheat and bajra (millet). Forest species available in Gujarat are teak, khair, sadad, haldariyo and manual bamboos.

During the period 1960-90, Gujarat established itself as a leader in various industrial sectors - Textiles, Engineering, Chemicals, Petrochemicals. Drugs & Pharmaceuticals. Dairy, Cement & Ceramics, Gems & Jewellery, etc.

The post-liberalisation period saw Gujarat's State Domestic Product (SDP) rising at an average growth rate of 14 per cent per annum in real terms (from 1994 -2002).

Gujarat achieved as much as 35 per cent of augmentation in its power generation capacity during the period 1995-96 and 2000-01. Gujarat, in fact, is one of the first few states in India to have encouraged private sector investments, which are already in operation. In addition, the liquid cargo (chemicals) handling port at Dahej is also set up in joint sector and made operational.

In an investor's summit entitled Vibrant Gujarat arranged between January 10, 2007 to January 13, 2007, at Science City, Ahmedabad, the state government signed 104 Memoranda of Understandings for Special Economic Zones totalling Rs 2.5 lakh crore worth. However, most of the investment was from domestic industry.

Goa

Tourism is Goa's primary industry, handling 12 per cent of all foreign tourist arrivals in India, and is generally focused on the coastal areas of the State, with decreased tourist activity inland. In 2004 there were more than 2 million tourists reported to have visited Goa, 400,000 of which were from abroad.

The land away from the coast is rich in minerals and ores and mining forms the second largest industry. Mining in Goa focuses on ores of iron, bauxite, manganese, clays, limestone and silica. The Marmagao Port handled 31.69 million tonnes of cargo last year, and accounts for over 39 per cent of India's Iron Ore exports.

Agriculture, while of shrinking importance to the economy over the past four decades, offers part-time employment to a sizable portion of the populace. Rice is the main agricultural crop, followed by areca, cashew and coconut. The fishing industry provides employment for about forty thousand people, though recent official figures indicate a decline of the importance of this sector and also a fall in catch, perhaps coupled with the fact that traditional fishing has given way to large-scale mechanised trawling.

Medium scale industries include the manufacturing of pesticides, fertilisers, tyres, tubes, footwear, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, wheat products, steel rolling, fruits and fish canning, cashew nuts, textiles, brewery products. Goa is also notable for its low liquor prices due to its very low excise duty on alcohol. Another source of cash inflow into the state comes from many of its citizens who work abroad and remit money to their families. Zuari Industries (2005 gross income Rs.36,302 million) and Sesa Goa (2005 gross income Rs.17,265 million) are two S&P CNX 500 conglomerates which have corporate offices in Goa.