Chavan, who completes a year in office this week, on Tuesday said that 40 mega projects will be put on fast-track ASAP to boost investment and spur industrial growth.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who completes a year in office this week, on Tuesday said that 40 mega projects will be put on fast-track ASAP to boost investment and spur industrial growth.
Chavan was confident that Maharashtra’s leading status in industrial growth will not be compromised as the administration goes about making renewed efforts to attract investments to the state which, he said, still remains the most favoured investment destination in country.
“My government has already signed the MoU in five projects, each worth over Rs500 crore. The remaining 32 projects will be fast-tracked in the coming months,” Chavan said, adding that politics of development will be integral to his administration and corrective measures to enhance transparency and reforms would be emphasised.
A candid Chavan said, “I tried hard to get Maruti Suzuki to set up its project in Maharashtra. But Maruti opted for Gujarat as it had made huge investments in the ports there. Maharashtra needs to expedite the development of ports which has been delayed.”
In the backdrop of 57% of state’s population depending on agriculture for a living, the thrust of the policy will be to consolidate industrial growth uniformly in districts across Maharashtra, he said. “Only four out of the total 35 districts attract maximum investment thus leading to imbalance in growth. The new industrial policy will attempt to create infrastructure to ensure industrial growth in other districts.”
Another challenge facing the administration was land acquisition for industrial projects.
Problems associated with land acquisition have been stalling many projects, and it was imperative to remove these hurdles, the chief minister, who has been accused of sitting on files and indecision, said. In at least one case, the Mihan project, Chavan has taken the initiative to resolve the land acquisition crisis. “After acquisition of 4,000 hectares of land the project found itself stuck in the pipeline for 150 hectares. I have taken some corrective steps to find a solution,” he said.
As for the Jaitapur project which promises 9,900MW nuclear power, the chief minister said land acquisition was not the hurdle but local protests that came in the way. Chavan said the state government would diffuse the protests by paying higher monetary compensation. Chavan said the state government also planned to mobilize more resources from the Centre for projects that would be given national project status so as to overcome any monetary crunch.
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