Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Thursday dismissed concerns over the state losing investment opportunities to Gujarat and rejected reports of internal conflicts within the Mahayuti alliance. Speaking at the Business Today Banking & Economy Summit and Best Banks Awards, he highlighted Maharashtra’s infrastructure push, defended the coalition’s stability, and addressed allegations that key investment deals were slipping away.

Mumbai’s infrastructure transformation

Narwekar underscored the importance of infrastructure in economic growth and detailed several large-scale projects currently underway in Mumbai and Maharashtra. “I can assure you in the next 2 years, there’ll be no politician who will be late to attend a function. Infrastructure plays a major role in the development of a country, region, state, or city. It’s the key to the growth engine of any economy and we have recognized this right since the beginning,” he said.

He acknowledged that Delhi once had an advantage in infrastructure but stressed that Maharashtra is making rapid strides. “If you see Maharashtra, we can see the longest sea bridge being constructed between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai, which cuts short the travel distance between Mumbai City and Panvel to flat 20 to 25 minutes from at least 2 hours. We have constructed the marvellous gamechanger Samruddhi Highway between Nagpur to Mumbai. The coastal road which extends from South Mumbai Marine Drive to Bandra and which will be carried forward to Versova in the next couple of years is also a game changer for the city. This is not just restricted to the road infrastructure but we’ve got the largest underground Metro Network in the world today underway. These are things that are changing the dynamics of the city and attracting good foreign investment into the state,” he stated.

‘Mahayuti is stable, no cause for concern’

Addressing speculation of internal disagreements within the Mahayuti government, Narwekar dismissed concerns and asserted that the coalition remains stable and functioning effectively. “I think numbers can work both ways. It can either make you very comfortable or it can really make you uncomfortable. So it’s the way you perceive it whether you see the glass half empty or half full. I think the government of the day is one of the most stable governments that we’ve had in the last couple of decades,” he said.

The Colaba MLA pointed out that the alliance holds a significant majority, which has not been seen in the state in two decades. “The numbers that the alliance partners together hold, of course, there’s an overwhelming majority which the state has not seen in the last two decades. The single largest party is very close to a full majority by themselves. Having known of this reality, we still respect the alliance partners. Everyone’s working together. This is good for the state when there are different people working together, when there are more than one party working together — there obviously will be some differences but that does not mean there is any kind of cause for concern in the alliance,” he said.

Maharashtra vs Gujarat: The investment debate

Responding to opposition claims that Maharashtra is losing investments to Gujarat, Narwekar defended the state’s strong position and said: “If you see historically Maharashtra has been the number one investment destination in India for any FDI or other investments. Over the last six or seven decades, other states have also caught up and they’ve made the atmosphere competitive. But that does not mean that Maharashtra has lost its edge. We are still the most industrialised state in the country. We have the strongest economy in the country, our SGDP is one of the top ones in the country.” 

While acknowledging that Maharashtra missed out on some investment opportunities, he attributed this to delayed decision-making under the previous government. “There are states which are doing well which weren’t doing well in the past but that does not mean that Maharashtra has lost its Competitive Edge. In fact, our geographical position, our cultural position, our infrastructural position gives us an advantage over the rest of the country.” 

“With regards to the propaganda that we have lost out to Gujarat on few occasions or a few opportunities — to some extent, this could be true and this has been explained that there were a couple of opportunities which perhaps the previous government could have capitalized but they could not. There was a lot of time spent in decision making and therefore there were a few opportunities which we may have lost. But let me assure you that position that Maharashtra occupies today there’s a lot to come and there are better days in store for the Maharashtra government,” he said.

Narwekar further clarified that these lost opportunities—including Tesla—were already slipping away before 2022, before the current government took charge.