Maha govt keen to develop tier II cities: Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today said that his government is keen to develop tier II cities like Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad by providing better infrastructure facilities.

"We wish to develop tier two cities like Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad, Kolhapur apart from Pune by providing better, road, air and railway connectivity and similarly develop all divisional headquarters in the state," Chavan told PTI at his official residence here.

"The government will emphasise on infrastructure development. This will give a much required boost to industrialisation and development in the cities," he said.

On his priorities for development of Nagpur in the backdrop of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's remark that "Nagpur is my dream city", he said, "there was no change in our vision. Merely change of guard does not change any visionary mission."

Metro region and metro railways would take precedence in the list of development issues for Nagpur, he added.

When asked about the flow of funds, Chavan said various proposals under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) worth Rs 5,000 crore were sent to the Centre for clearance.

He, however, admitted that JNURM projects launched on a fast track had lost speed.

Noting that it all depends on the elected representatives and the team effort for co-ordination among various bodies implementing JNURM projects, Chavan said it was the primary responsibility of the elected representatives to effectively implement the projects.