No power can separate Mumbai from Maharashtra asserts Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

Asserting that Mumbai will never be separated from Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said his suggestion of a committee for Mumbai headed by the Prime Minister is meant for the fast track development of the city.

"No force on this earth can separate Mumbai from Maharashtra," Fadnavis told the Assembly during a marathon debate on the motion of thanks on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao's joint address to both the Houses of State Legislature.

On the high power committee for Mumbai, Fadnavis said, "There are a number of infrastructure projects pending with the Central Government and they need sympathetic consideration and clearance. The projects include those from Railways, Housing and infrastructure. If the Prime Minister is the chairman of the committee, these pending projects can see the light of the day."

A few days back Fadnavis had said, "Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, unless Mumbai is developed, there is no scope for the development of the country. For Mumbai's development, there is an urgent need of effective coordination between state and central agencies. Under such circumstances, it will be appropriate to set up a Mumbai development committee headed by the PM."

Reiterating that his government was committed to abolish the local body tax (LBT), he said they would not wait to scrap the LBT till the introduction of GST. The Chief Minister also said the government will take up a housing scheme for policemen and sanitation workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Powers vested with the Secretariat-level officers in Mumbai will be decentralised, he added.