Nagpur, Jan 9 (PTI) The Maharashtra government plans to pick up a small portion of equity from the state-based SMEs which raise capital through listing, industries minister Subhash Desai said Wednesday.

During the past one year alone, as many as 140 small scale industries from Maharashtra have listed on the stock markets, while over the past four years, SMES have raised about Rs 2,800 crore through public listing.

"Those SMEs raising capital by listing itself on stock markets will get some proportion of financial assistance from the government. Though it will not big, it will boost the confidence of both companies and investors. We have approved this proposal in our new industrial policy," Desai told an SME summit organized by the Loksatta daily.

The minister also said the state has emerged as the most preferred investment destination among all the states attracting Rs 6.50 trillion in FDI since the past four years. He said the Magnetic Maharashtra summit saw as much as 84 percent conversion of MoUs compared to only 10-20 percent conversion in other states.

"As many as 286 companies have already gone into production and 276 are expected to go into production soon. Besides, 2,666 companies have purchased land from MIDC at various locations in the state," he said.

The state has allotted land after going through their project reports. It's 84 percent conversion and implementation of MoUs signed during investment summit, he added.

Desai further said prominent companies are setting up their operations in Maharashtra. "During the past four years, the state attracted FDI worth about Rs 6.50 trillion, which is 20 percent of the entire inflows of FDI inflows into the country," he said.

Highlighting the growth of the IT industry in the state, he said "the state has received a huge response from the IT industry after changes in the IT policy by this government by providing more facilities.

Around 119 private IT parks are developed in the state paving way for Rs 19,000 crore of new investments and created 5.5 lakh new jobs since this government came to power," Desai said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)