Today’s Union budget is of special significance to Maharashtra, a state hit by steadily declining economic and social indices over the past decade. While expecting greater allocations in the social sector, policymakers feel a stimulus to public-private infrastructure projects is also necessary.
They have the usual grouse when it comes to Mumbai — the city which generates 40% of the country’s revenue, with complex political and social issues, cannot be treated at par with other metropolises, and deserves a special makeover package.
Last month, chief minister Ashok Chavan led the state delegation to share his budget wishlist with the finance minister, and the thrust this time was on agriculture, power and infrastructure sectors.
Maharashtra Economic Development Council executive director, Chandrahas Deshpande, said, “Through the JNNURM projects, the Centre has always treated Mumbai as a special case. In this budget, we are expecting incentives to push the irrigation and port sectors.” The growth rate in the irrigation sector is stagnant at 17% in Maharashtra, way below that of Andhra Pradesh at 40%.
While the nation, too, will eagerly await sops in the agriculture sector, especially those related to the food prices, the concern in the state is higher in the back drop of the continuing farmer suicides in Vidarbha’s cotton-growing belt. Said Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Kisan Jan Andolan, “The Centre-state loan waiver packages have benefited the cooperative banks, not the needy farmers. On an average, there are five to 10 farmer suicides every month in the region.”
The state’s 200 sugar factories, which account for 40% of the country’s sugar production, also expect some incentives, and their bidding is being done by none other than the Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
The state also expects a thrust to the power sector, which remains its biggest challenge. It is worried that if the power shortage of 4,500MW is not resolved in the next two years, it would become difficult to sustain the investment in state.
The industrial growth has also been stunted. Despite cornering the most special economic zone (SEZ) projects, 133 of the total 415, there has been little headway, and cases of investors withdrawing from SEZs are high in state.
The state wants the Centre to make the SEZ policy more flexible to facilitate easy land acquisition process. Through 133 SEZs, the state was expecting an investment of Rs1,48,722 crore and employment to 61 lakh people.
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