Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that the city of Mumbai alone currently has the potential to create an economy of $1.5 trillion. He further stated that the Vadhvan Port will be three times larger than JNPT, and it will be counted among the top ten ports in the world.

Therefore, this port will create a new economy in the next 20 years. He was speaking during his interaction with the 14 officers of the Indian Foreign Service.

CM Fadnavis said that it is necessary to develop the port for the development of Mumbai. For this, a coastal route is being prepared. The third Mumbai is being developed due to Atal Setu (link between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai).

The interaction focused on various national and international issues, including Maharashtra’s global investment opportunities, the state’s involvement in foreign policy, a developed India and various international projects in Maharashtra, said the government release.

At the same time, the chief minister said that an ‘Educity’ is being proposed in Mumbai. This Educity will have 12 universities from India and it will be built on 200 acres of land and approximately 1 lakh students will study in it.

He also said that an Innovation City will be built on 300 acres of land. A Knowledge City is being built on 1,000 acres of land to make Mumbai the best in technology. Due to this, a completely changed Mumbai will be seen in the next 5 years, he asserted.

Earlier on Monday, in a bid to provide assistance to farmers, Fadnavis directed the banks to provide agricultural loans to farmers without insisting on providing CIBIL score (credit information). CIBIL score is a 3-digit numeric summary of one’s credit history, rating and report, and ranges from 300 to 900. The closer one’s score is to 900, the better his/her credit rating is.

“If agricultural loans are not provided to farmers, its consequences will be in the form of farmer suicides along with the economy. Therefore, despite repeated warnings from farmers not to ask for CIBIL, banks are asking from the farmers. Please provide an immediate solution to this. Earlier, the government has also filed FIRs against such banks. You will have to take this issue seriously. The Reserve Bank has also given clarity regarding agricultural loans. If any bank branch is asking for CIBIL, the action will be taken against that branch,” Fadnavis said at the 167th meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee held here.

The Chief Minister also asked the nationalised banks to make special efforts to increase the supply of agricultural loans and meet the target set for this year (2025-26).

On Monday, during the meeting, the state’s credit plan for the financial year 2025-26 worth Rs 44,76,894 crore was approved.

Stating that Maharashtra is a leading state in the country, the Chief Minister said that farmers are the backbone of the state and agriculture is an important part of the state’s economy. It is not right to ignore this sector. Therefore, nationalised banks should focus on increasing agricultural credit supply.

–IANS

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