Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, back from an official trip to Europe, told reporters that his government has signed eight MOU's worth Rs2000 crore with different companies in Europe last week.

He led his delegation to Italy, Switzerland and London and cajoled foreign companies to invest in "the most industralised state in the country" by highlighting the state government's effort in improving the infrastructure and industrial environment of the state.

Indian business magnates like Baba Kalyani and Anand Mahindra who attended the investors' meet in London also helped persuade foreign companies about the benefits of investing in Maharashtra. Deshmukh said Maharashtra is still a leading state in attracting foreign direct investment as in the last fiscal year the state had attracted $37 billion worth of investment.

Deshmukh informed the potential investors of the power shortage in the state and said that the state would not go through the process of acquiring land for these projects but would allot state-owned land.

He said he was "very encouraged" when told by European investors that Mumbai had the capability to become an international financial centre if the government improved the infrastructure and created more amenities.

The global textile and automotive systems supplier Rieter Group of Switzerland plans to invest Rs350 crore for manufacturing cotton spinning machinery and the Finnish stainless steel maker- Outokumpo would set up a Rs300-crore coil and plate service centre near Mumbai and employ about 130 people.

An engineering and manufacturing unit in the SEZ near Pune will be put up by the Schlumberger group with an investment of Rs900 crore while Italian vehicle manufacturer Piaggio would set up Rs450 crore unit at its existing Baramati plant in Pune district, he added.

Kuoni travel group of Switzerland who already has its operations in the state has signed a deal with MTDC and the UK division of Emerson Network Power will set up a plant to manufacture electrical and power equipment by investing Rs100 crore, said Deshmukh.