Fadnavis bats for Central aid, early clearances for infra projects

Seeks assistance to improve infrastructure for agricultural activities in bid to curb farmer suicides

The Maharashtra government has appealed to the Centre to provide assistance through budgetary allocation, grant and viability gap funding to expedite implementation of infrastructure projects in Mumbai worth Rs 1 lakh-crore. Besides, the government has said these projects be entitled for funds in the new financing model being proposed by the Centre.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who chaired the Mumbai NEXT MMR Transformation summit last week, made representation in this regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely at the NITI Aayog meeting held on Sunday. Besides, the state government has sought the Centre’s intervention so that loans from multilateral agencies, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japanese International Co-operation Agency, can be expeditiously availed.

Fadnavis’ appeal comes close on the heels of the latest report prepared by a multinational management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which has observed that Mumbai Metropolitan Region is a $250-billion economy and the government will have to act fast to exploit its potential.

A senior government official, who accompanied Fadnavis for NITI Ayog meeting, told Business Standard:  “The state government has taken up infra structure projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in Mumbai. The Central government should expedite early clearance and should support them financially.’’

Some of the projects comprised Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Rs 11,000 crore), coastal road project connecting South and North Mumbai (Rs 8,500 crore),  Metro phase-II expansion between Dahisar and Mankhurd via Charkop and Bandra (Rs 25,605 crore), Metro phase-III between Colaba and SEEPZ (Rs 23,000 crore), Ghatkopar-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro corridor (Rs 19,097 crore) and Navi Mumbai international airport (Rs 18,000 crore).

Further, Fadnavis also urged the Centre to allocate an amount equivalent to 35 per cent of agriculture crop loan to invest in the agriculture infrastructure development. ‘’This is necessary as the state government plans to spend Rs 34,500 crore in next five years for the agriculture development and make 25,000 villages scarcity-free, which will effectively curb farmer suicides,’’ the official said.

Moreover, Fadnavis also sought the Centre’s assistance to implement “Jal Yukta Shivar”, which is in tune with the Prime Minister Krishi Sichayi Yojana to step up water conservation across the state.