Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant on 16 September 2026 called on French space-sector companies, startups, and investors to treat Maharashtra as their preferred India destination, speaking at a high-level interaction with Indian space and aerospace entrepreneurs in Paris during World Space Business Week 2026. The meeting was organised by the Indian Embassy in France, and marked a clear push to shift India-France space cooperation from the government-to-government lane into a commercially driven industry-to-industry model.

The Core Pitch: Industry to Industry, Not Just Government to Government

Minister Samant argued that while India and France have a long-standing partnership in the space sector, the relationship needs to evolve beyond bilateral state agreements. 'India and France have a long-standing and strong partnership in the space sector. There is now a need to take this cooperation to a broader commercial level, and French companies should consider Maharashtra as a preferred destination for investment and expansion in India,' he said.

He urged French companies to visit Mumbai and Pune, engage directly with Maharashtra's startups, institutions, and government agencies, and share their requirements so the state government could respond. 'Tell us about your requirements; the Government of Maharashtra is ready to work with you,' he added. This framing — inverting the usual investment-pitch dynamic to ask the investor what they need — reflects a more consultative approach to foreign investment outreach.

Maharashtra's SpaceTech Credentials on the Table

Samant highlighted Maharashtra's existing strengths: globally recognised cities, a strong manufacturing and technology base, skilled talent, universities, a large pool of DPIIT-recognised startups, and a vibrant investor ecosystem. He noted that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has a stated vision of positioning Maharashtra not just as India's economic and industrial capital, but as a global hub for future technologies and innovation.

The minister also pointed to the Maharashtra Industries, Investment and Services Policy 2025, which sets ambitious targets for large-scale investment attraction and job creation. A ₹500-crore 'Maha-Fund' has been established to strengthen the startup ecosystem, and an Innovation City spanning approximately 300 acres in Navi Mumbai is under development — designed to co-locate startups, corporates, investors, academic institutions, and government agencies in an integrated environment. Special focus areas include Artificial Intelligence, DeepTech, and SpaceTech.

India's Space Sector Transformation: The Larger Context

Samant's Paris remarks come at a pivotal moment for India's space economy. The sector is undergoing what the minister described as a 'historic transformation,' with private companies and startups now developing rockets, satellites, Earth observation systems, geospatial technologies, avionics, and other advanced systems. 'Maharashtra is determined to play a significant role in this transformation,' he said.

This comes amid the broader liberalisation of India's space sector following the government's decision to open it to private players — a shift that has triggered a startup wave and drawn international attention from space agencies and investors across Europe, the US, and Japan. Maharashtra's bid to position itself as the anchor state for this wave is a direct competition with peers like Telangana and Karnataka, which have their own aerospace and defence corridors.

Maharashtra SpaceFest 2027: A Business-First Showcase

Underlining ambition beyond optics, Minister Samant announced that Maharashtra SpaceFest will be held in Mumbai in February 2027. He was explicit that the event must generate tangible outcomes. 'SpaceFest should not be merely another conference or event. We expect it to generate actual business, investments and partnerships. We want new investments, new partnerships, new technologies and new business opportunities between India and France to emerge from Mumbai,' he said.

He extended a formal invitation to French space companies, startups, investors, and technology representatives to attend, signalling that the groundwork being laid in Paris is intended to convert into firm commitments by early next year. The event will serve as a key test of whether Maharashtra's outreach translates into verifiable investment flows.