The Central and Maharashtra Governments today signed a Memorandum of Understanding for setting up a rail coach factory at Latur in Maharashtra. The project cost in the first Phase is expected to be Rs 500 crores and covering a land area of 150 hectares.

 The MOU was signed on the sidelines of the +Magnetic Maharashtra+ event here by B.K. Agrawal, Additional Member (PU), Railway Board and Sanjay Sethi, CEO, MIDC, in the presence of Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.

 The project, which will be carried out on high priority basis with fast track processing of all approvals by the Maharashtra Government, is expected to generate direct employment to thousands of people alongside manifold indirect employment opportunities and also boosting the Industry and Industrial ecosystem of ancillary units in drought-prone Marathwada, which is one of the most backward regions in the State.

 Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railway and Coal, highlighted Maharashtra’s remarkable contribution to India in the form of taxes, various sectorial growth like FDI/GDP growth, march towards a trillion-dollar economy, etc. Through this project, the Railways will have made a small contribution towards the development of Marathwada region and this association will go a long way, he noted.

  The Maharashtra Government is expected to: Provide land at concessional rate; Facilitate rail connectivity including land required for it; Concession on local taxes on water, electricity and State GST;  Help in providing road connectivity; and facilitate speedy clearances of all statutory requirements.