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dna exclusive: Now, nod to projects based on priority, focus on their timely completion: Finance Minister

Sudhir Mungantiwar lays out his plans

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In a major departure from convention and to inculcate fiscal discipline, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has indicated that the cash-strapped state government will not grant rampant permissions to various projects — a practice which has pushed Maharashtra's exchequer into the red. It will focus on an output-based method while granting permissions to projects, instead of the present expenditure-based approach, which will ensure that benefits of government-spending trickle down to the masses.

Giving an example, Mungantiwar, who will present his first budget next month, said if the government spent crores on the education of weaker sections, like tribals, this had to be reflected in a substantial number of them getting into professional and specialty courses, like medicine.

Mungantiwar said the government would also implement projects in a time-bound manner and go digital to ensure transparency.

Once regarded as among the best administered states in the country, Maharashtra now has a Rs3,00,477 crore debt burden and pays around Rs23,805 crore towards interest servicing annually, which translates into over Rs63 crore of interest payments daily.

"We will stress on output-based evaluation of projects... Administrative approvals will be granted (to projects) based on their priority and completion of the project will be the main issue. It is wrong to stretch the construction for 10-15 years," said Mungantiwar, pointing to how the previous regime had granted approvals to 4,510 water conservation projects in one go.

"Of these, only 37 schemes have been completed last year and the total number of projects completed so far is 858. It will take a long time to complete all 4,510," he added.

"The priority of all schemes must be decided (while approving them), otherwise there will be a problem in all sectors."

"In the future, the GIS-based digital photographs of any work we do will be put on a website so that anyone can see and evaluate it. Today, no one knows what work is going on," said Mungantiwar.

The minister said he had also ordered a review of all the 1,256 government schemes to assess their utility, unify those floated by multiple departments under one umbrella, change the structure, increase the outlay wherever necessary and also scrap those which are outdated.

To ensure participative governance, brainstorm on methods to increase revenues and tackle Maharashtra's huge debt burden, Mungantiwar had also written to economists, industry bodies, chief ministers and chief secretaries of all states and elected representatives and officials from the state seeking ideas. The BJP has also promised the traders lobby that it will scrap the local body tax and replace it with an alternative, like a surcharge on value added tax.

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