Maharashtra’s first Innovation City’ to be built near Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis at Davos

DAVOS: Maharashtra is set to build its first ‘Innovation City’ near Mumbai, bringing in multiple investors and global innovation ecosystems to India, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Fadnavis highlighted that the idea was proposed under the AI and the Innovation Ecosystem theme of the 2025 WEF conference before more than 400 investors, and this year the location has been finalised with the project set to begin in six to eight months.

“The city will bring global innovation ecosystems to Mumbai, India. Our goal is to make Mumbai a hub where anyone in the world can easily access a plug-and-play innovation system. Tata Sons has committed $11 billion to develop the Innovation City, including a data centre. Following this announcement, international investors are now expressing serious interest in investing in this city. We are set to build India’s first innovation city near Mumbai,” CM Fadnavis said.

#WATCH | World Economic Forum, Davos | Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says, “Today, we made a significant announcement. Last year in Davos, our theme was AI and the Innovation Ecosystem, which inspired us to propose creating an innovation city in Maharashtra. I discussed this… pic.twitter.com/X44QF4sHiG

— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2026

“We have just identified the location and sketched one of its details, which we can now refer to as the contour. The plan is to take the next six to eight months before we begin,” he added. According to the CM, Tata Sons has committed around USD 10 billion of investment, in which they will build infrastructure, including a data centre.

“I discussed this idea with the chairman of Tata Sons and sought his support. I am delighted that, nearly a year later, we have officially announced this innovation city in Davos before 400-450 international investors”, he said.

Apart from the city, the CM also discussed focusing on energy transition, particularly the International Solar Alliance. Ministers from Zimbabwe and our Union ministers participated in the discussion, engaging in extensive discussions on energy transition.

Notably, Maharashtra has also signed MoUs with Indian and Russian companies to build Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for using nuclear energy in smaller clusters in the state, made possible with the passing of the SHANTI bill in Parliament.

The plan for the city comes as Union Minister of Electronics Ashwini Vaishnaw detailed India’s comprehensive strategy to dominate the global artificial intelligence landscape, emphasising a shift from big-tech-controlled resources to a public-private partnership model.

During the ongoing global summit, the Minister pointed out that the whole world, and especially the AI-related industry, is appreciating that India is working methodically across all five layers. “The whole world today, and especially the AI-related industry, is appreciating the fact that India is working methodically on all five layers,” he commented.

He described the five distinct elements that form the backbone of India’s artificial intelligence mission. During the ongoing global summit, the Minister pointed out that the whole world, and especially the AI-related industry, is appreciating that India is working methodically across all five layers.

Breaking down the technical framework, the Minister said, “If we look at what AI is, AI has five elements. The first element is the application layer, that is, how we use it. The second is the model layer, the models that are created. The third is the chip layer, the semiconductor layer. The fourth is the infrastructure layer, the data centres. The fifth layer is energy.”

The Minister also highlighted a strategic shift in the economics of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, suggesting that the massive ROI of the future will come from cost-effective, scalable solutions rather than just “brute-force” computing. He debunked the myth that all AI progress requires expensive hardware, noting that “nearly 95 per cent of AI work can be done using the 20-50 billion parameter models.” (ANI)