Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused the UPA government at the Centre and in Maharashtra of inaction and neglect in putting the development of the state and Mumbai on fast track due to lack of vision.

The Home Minister credited the double-engine government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Fadnavis-Shinde regime for making investment of Rs 7 lakh crore for Mumbai’s transformation and pushing state’s growth.

He also lashed out at the critics blaming the Centre for doing injustice to the state in the devolution of funds and grants saying that Maharashtra has received Rs 7,82,000 crore during 2024-14 against a paltry Rs 1,51,000 crore during 10 year UPA rule.

This apart, HM Shah remarked that the Centre has also given infrastructure and investment grants and helped rolling out red carpet for investments in Maharashtra.

HM Shah was speaking at the function to celebrate 100 years of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and also to inaugurate its new building here.

He claimed that the UPA government at the Centre and in the state left the development of Mumbai and Maharashtra in general to luck while the PM Modi-led government at the Centre and Fadnavis-Shinde government changed policies and implemented them to expedite the development process.

HM Shah has thereby has sounded a bugle for the upcoming Elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation hinting that the double engine rule is capable to take Mumbai’s development to a new scale.

“Under the double engine government, an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore is being made to develop 337 km of metro rail network in Mumbai. Among a number of infrastructure projects, the Rs 17,000 crore Atal Setu and Rs 13,000 crore Mumbai coastal road and the Rs 60,000 crore Samruddhi Marg are operational while the construction is underway for the Rs 1,08,000 crore Mumbai Ahmedabad Bullet train, Rs 80,000 crore Vadhvan port, Rs 19,646 crore Navi Mumbai International Airport, Bandra Versova link (Rs 11,000 crore), Sewree Worli Link (Rs 1,294 crore), Thane coastal road (Rs 2,535 crore) among others,” said HM Shah.

He mentioned that the government has proposed investment of Rs 23,000 crore on slum redevelopment while criticising opponents for targeting the state government on this front.

The Union Minister further stated that Maharashtra has been a growth engine and leader in industrial development while it attracts maximum foreign direct investment with 39 per cent share at the national level. HM Shah said Maharashtra has highest number of start ups adding that they constitute 25 per cent of the total start ups at the national level.

“Maharashtra’s economy is big and it attracts highest tourists. It has been ranking among three for last 15 years to record highest industrial output. Mumbai, which houses the headquarters of RBI, SEBI, has been a commercial capital. The ongoing investment in a slew of projects will not only improve infrastructure but address issues like increasing population, traffic jams and slums,” he remarked.

He pointed out that Mumbai also enjoys a unique recognition for the highest number of women tax payers for filing their income tax returns.

At the national level, HM Shah said that PM Modi-led government has increased spending on infrastructure to Rs 10,95,000 crore annually for the last 10 years against Rs 1,51,000 crore till 2014 during UPA rule. “India has become the fourth largest economy and it is set to become a third largest by 2027,” he noted.

–IANS

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