Although the British originally regarded India as a place for the supply of raw materials for the factories of England, by the end of the 19th-century a modern manufacturing industry was developing in the city of Mumbai.

[40][41][42] The completion of The Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway in 1896, with a 391 miles (629 km) line from Hyderabad city to Manmad Junction opened the Nizam ruled Marathwada region to growth of industry.

The wages paid were good, but the cost of living in Marathwara rose significantly due to the rise of the cotton industry, the uncertainty of rainfall, and availability of credit from money lenders.

The late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century saw huge development in the Information Technology sector, and IT Parks were set up in Aundh, and Hinjawadi areas of Pune.

[63][64][65] Nuclear and renewable sources such as Hydroelectricity, Wind, solar, and biomass make a smaller contribution to electricity generation capability in the state.

Agriculture includes crops, horticulture, milk and animal husbandry, aquaculture, fishing, sericulture, aviculture, forestry, and related activities.

[17]: 18  Since most of the cultivable land is still rain-fed, the Southwest Monsoon season between June and September is critical to the food sufficiency and quality of life in the state.

This has a cascading effect on the secondary economic sectors, the overall economy, food inflation and therefore the overall quality and cost of living for the general population.

Many areas in Western Maharashtra on the Deccan plateau such as eastern Pune district, Solapur, Sangli, Satara and Ahmadnagar and the Marathwada region are particularly prone to drought.

Just like rest of India, land holdings tend to remain small and the percent of marginal farmers (landholding of less than 1.0 hectare (2.5 acre)) was 43%.

[73] Recent years have seen a huge increase in farmers committing suicide in Maharashtra because of indebtedness resulting from monsoon failure, climate change, and at times cost of growing crops being higher than the market price.

[74][75][76][17] The cause for suicide has been linked in some studies to inability to loans mostly taken from banks and NBFCs to purchase expensive seeds and fertilizers, often marketed by foreign MNCs.

[80] In the high rain fall areas of Konkan and the eastern foothills of the Sahyadri mountains, different varieties of rice are cultivated.

Unlike some southern states in India, in Maharashtra water buffalo and indigenous cattle account for bulk of milk production.

These breeds offer good draught power capacity, heat tolerance, disease resistance, adaptability to harsh agro-climatic conditions and ability to survive and perform under scarce feed and fodder.

[87] Over the last fifty years, the local sugar mills and other cooperative bodies have played a crucial part in encouraging political participation and as a stepping stone for aspiring politicians.

Agricultural products on the list from Maharashtra includes Chiku of Gholvad, Nagpur oranges, Nashik grapes, Mahabaleshwar strawberry, Waghya Ghevada (a French bean variety) of Satara district,[88] Jalgaon eggplant, Ambemohar rice etc.,[89][90] Maharashtra with a coastline of 720 km is one of the leading states in India in marine fish production.

[91][92] As part of its sustainability efforts, the state has started a project for the identification of suitable plantation sites for Jatropha, a drought resistance plant.

MIDC facilitates manufacturing business by creating Special economic zones that have infrastructure such as land (open plot or built-up spaces), roads, water supply, drainage facilities, etc.

[citation needed][111][112] Public primary schools in the rural and urban are run by the area Zilla Parishad or the municipal corporations respectively.

[131] There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition[citation needed].

MADC is playing the lead role in the planning and implementation of the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project.

[149] Additional smaller airports include Akola, Amravati, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Jalgaon, Karad, Kolhapur, Nashik Road, Ratnagiri, and Solapur.

Places of interest include ancient caves and monuments at Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta and Karle-Bhaje, numerous mountain forts from the Maratha empire era such as Raigad, Sinhagad, Rajgad, Shivneri, Panhala, British era hill stations such as Lonavala, Khandala, Mahabaleshwar, and Matheran, tiger reserves such as Melghat, Nagzira, and Tadoba, and national parks such as Navegaon Bandh.

[168] Until the 1970s, Mumbai owed its prosperity largely to textile mills and the seaport, but the local economy has since then diversified to include finance, engineering, diamond-polishing, healthcare and information technology.

The Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) and the International Infotech Park (Navi Mumbai) offer excellent facilities to IT companies.

Mumbai also has a large unskilled and semi-skilled self-employed population, who primarily earn their livelihood as hawkers, taxi drivers, mechanics and other such blue collar professions.

[181] As one of the largest cities of India and major centre of learning with several colleges and universities, Pune has emerged as a prominent location for IT and manufacturing.

[189] To facilitate economic growth, the government made liberal incentives in its IT and ITES Policy, 2003 and leased properties on MIDC land.

The main reason for such uneven development was the better infrastructure facilities available in Aurangabad city in relation to other districts and places in the region.