Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that the government plans to build 50 smart villages in the state by the end of 2016. American technology company Microsoft will be a partner in the development.

Fadnavis said, "We are looking to integrate information technology into healthcare, education, energy, and other areas. We will look for support from Microsoft to enable digitisation of processes. He added that the government is further looking to ease up rules to do business in the state.

Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, who is on a visit to India, said that the technology company is looking at creating a single platform for startups to bring together data to help solve burgeoning urban problems. He said, "This initiative will cover more than 50 smart cities in the next year. This is on the same lines as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of smart cities."