Joshi's clarification came in the wake of Thackeray's open submission in an interaction with industrialists at the Indian Merchant's Chamber on Monday, that the state was no more a favoured destination and had slipped to number four. Thackeray also expressed his disappointment on losing the Indian School of Business project to Hyderabad.

Joshi admitted that the information on industrial investment proposals in Maharashtra was not communicated to Thackeray before his speech and added that he had directed industry minister Leeladhar Dake to hand over the update to the Sena chief immediately. "I can't say it is a lapse but the information was not passeddown to Thackeray."

Joshi told reporters that 5,819 industral entreprenuer memoranda (IEM) involving Rs 107,379 crore and with an employment potential of 9,66,085 were received by the state during August 1991 to May 1998. About 465 letters of intent (LoI) involving Rs 11,374 crore were alloted up to January 1998 and 497 export-oriented units (EOU) with an investment of Rs 6,253 crore have come in. The state received 1,122 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 20,389 crore up to September 1997.

Joshi said that in terms of investment, Gujarat was ahead of Maharashtra as it (Gujarat) has received 4,830 IEM with an investment of Rs 1,18,984 crore and with an employment potential of 7,94,597. Gujarat received only 329 FDI proposals worth Rs 8,503 crore. He said that Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa were way behind.

Joshi said that as per the recent surveys conducted by American Embassy, Punjab and Harayana Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Business Today Gallopand Collier Jardine, Maharashtra was the ideal state for investment and a favoured destination. He added that Maharashtra, despite much talk of Andhra Pradesh's initiatives, continues to be the leader in information technology and software development.

Joshi said that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has acquired 17,362 hectares during the Shivshahi rule since 1995, compared with 34,183 hectares during the last 33 years. MIDC has spent Rs 125.55 crore on land acquisition compared with Rs 104.49 crore in the last 33 years.

On shifting of the school project to Hyderabad, the chief minister expressed his displeasure on the manner it was handled by the developers of the project. "Indian School of Business to be promoted by a consortium of industrialists in association with Wharton School of Management is not the only school. We will try to get some other prominent institution in Maharashtra," he added.

Joshi said there was nothing wrong in demanding 10 per cent reservation forMaharashtrian students in the business school and added that it was even withdrawn in the latter stage. The government had accepted almost all demands of the promoters and prepared a package of Rs 15 crore for them in Navi Mumbai, Joshi said.