Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday met Amazon CEO Andy Jassy here and invited the US tech giant to invest in data centres, healthcare infrastructure and artificial intelligence-led skill development in the state.
"Maharashtra is the data centre capital of the country. We are creating a strong ecosystem for expansion and development of data centres. Besides this, there are significant opportunities in healthcare, technology infrastructure and AI-based skill development. Amazon should invest in the state," a government statement quoted the chief minister as saying.
The state is aiming to expand the size of its economy from the current estimated USD 660 billion to USD 1 trillion by 2030, and has already crossed more than half of that target, Fadnavis said.
The state government is also increasingly deploying artificial intelligence to improve delivery of services to citizens and building AI-enabled systems in agriculture, infrastructure, healthcare and education, he told Jassy.
Noting that AI is transforming the nature of jobs, the chief minister said skill development programmes aligned with the new technology are essential, and Maharashtra is interested in partnering with Amazon in this area too.
The state, which has a strong micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) base, is also developing the required ecosystem for AI-driven skilling programmes for the sector, he said.
Maharashtra was the first state in the country to implement a public cloud policy and had already worked with Amazon Web Services on public cloud initiatives, the chief minister noted.
The state has announced a dedicated data centre policy with a focus on green data centres, under which renewable energy usage is being promoted and incentives are being provided, Fadnavis said.
The chief minister also highlighted investment opportunities in the upcoming Medicity project in Navi Mumbai which is being developed as an integrated healthcare ecosystem, the statement said.
