Mumbai, April 8 Vietnam's VinGroup Joint Stock Company, on Wednesday, pledged an investment of nearly $8.5 billion (Rs 71,000 crore) in Maharashtra.
The investment will focus on sustainable urban development, industrial and tourism growth, renewable energy, and electric mobility.
The MoU was signed in the presence of the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Chief Minister expressed confidence that the partnership would catalyse green energy, modern infrastructure, and dynamic transport systems across the state.
"The collaboration marks one of the largest foreign direct investments in the state's history. A total investment of $8.5 billion over the next two years is expected to generate 24,700 direct jobs. Projects will be spread across 5,000 acres in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and other selected locations in Maharashtra," Chief Minister Fadnavis said.
He also added that a world-class, eco-friendly smart residential township on 2,700 acres will be developed, which houses a population of nearly 200,000 people.
"The MoU also aims to introduce a large-scale electric taxi service and a 'Mobility-as-a-Service' (MaaS) platform to promote green transit. Beyond housing and transport, the MoU covers several critical public sectors, including education and healthcare, EV infrastructure, renewable energy and tourism."
"It is proposed to establish international-standard schools via VinSchool and multi-specialty hospitals through VinMec, creation of a statewide electric vehicle charging network under the V-Green initiative, covering 170 acres. Further, 500 MW of solar projects will be established on 1,200 acres. In addition, an international-standard theme park, zoo, and safari project will be developed across 865 acres," the Chief Minister said.
He added, "VinGroup's entry into Maharashtra is a matter of pride. They are investing at the right time and in the right place. The Mumbai-Raigad region is set to become one of the most dynamic global urban hubs. Our administration is fully committed to supporting investors and ensuring all hurdles are cleared swiftly."
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Fadnavis said that advanced interconnectivity and the ability to instantly scale bandwidth within data centres will be highly beneficial for the state government, particularly in overcoming technical hurdles during the implementation of online schemes.
He was speaking at the inauguration of Equinix's MB3 Data Centre.
Highlighting past challenges, the Chief Minister noted that bandwidth shortages often disrupted online processes, especially when sudden spikes in internet traffic -- such as during farmer application drives -- caused systems to crash.
"Equinix, the world's largest data centre and interconnection service provider, operates a network of 280 data centres across 77 metros in 36 countries. The newly inaugurated MB3 facility marks a significant milestone as the company's first fully owned, ground-up data centre in India. The project is spread across 3.7 acres with a total investment of nearly $750 million (Rs 6,000 crore)," the government statement said.
According to the statement, once fully operational, the facility will house more than 4,200 cabinets.
MB3 is equipped with cutting-edge technology designed to support Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based services.
Through hybrid multi-cloud interconnection, the centre will link to Equinix's global network and more than 11,000 customers worldwide.
"In a push toward green energy, a significant portion of the data centre's power is sourced from a 26.6 MW solar project located in Yavatmal. At present, nearly 60 per cent of the energy used by Equinix's Mumbai data centres is derived from this solar facility, aligning industrial growth with environmental sustainability," the government statement added.
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