Nagpur, Dec 14 (IANS) Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday asserted that Mumbai will never be separated from Maharashtra, declaring that it was, is, and will remain an inseparable part of the state “as long as the sun and moon exist.”

Without naming Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, accusing the government of hatching a plot to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said whenever elections are around the corner, such statements are made, and they lack substance.

“Maharashtra will not slow down but will move forward at full speed based on the principles of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Constitution penned by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Maharashtra will become the first state to be a trillion-dollar economy by 2030, and the state will meet its ambitious target of Viksit Maharashtra by 2047,” he said in his reply to last week’s motion in the state Assembly.

He appealed to the opposition to cooperate with the government for the unabated and unhindered growth of Maharashtra.

CM Fadnavis strongly refuted the opposition’s charge that Maharashtra is heading to bankruptcy, saying that Maharashtra is one among other major states that have been well within the limits of all economic parameters, including public debt, revenue and fiscal deficits.

“Maharashtra’s public debt is 18.87 per cent against 25 per cent of gross state domestic product limit laid down by the RBI and the Fiscal Responsibility Budgetary Management Act (FRBM). The fiscal deficit is at 2.76 per cent, which is below the 3 per cent limit, adding, “Even though there are constraints in budgetary spending, the state economy is doing fine as the government has not made any compromise on the principles laid down under the FRBM Act,” he noted.

CM Fadnavis claimed that Maharashtra continues to rank first in attracting Foreign Direct Investment, also in signing MoU of 1 lakh MW through pumped storage hydro projects and chasing its ambitious target of 16,000 MW solar capacity addition for agriculture by 2030.

He said that Maharashtra will draw 52 per cent of the total power from renewable energy sources by 2030. Further, the drought will become a thing of the past due to the implementation of a slew of irrigation schemes, including interlinking river projects such as Nalganga Vainganga.

“Maharashtra receives 31 per cent of the total FDI. The Marathwada region, especially Sambhajinagar, is emerging as the electric vehicle capital, while Gadchiroli as new industry magnet. The efforts are underway to develop it as a gateway to South India with the development of an airport there,” he announced.

The Chief Minister said that the state had signed MoUs for investment worth Rs 17.57 lakh crore during the Davos summit between 2022 and 2025, with implementation at 75 per cent in 204-25, while it was 90 per cent in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In addition, investments worth Rs 13.75 lakh crore have been received under the Package Scheme of Incentives, spread across Vidarbha and Marathwada.

In the energy sector, Maharashtra’s contractual capacity will become 47,000 MW by 2030 and subsequently to 82,000 MW in addition to the installed capacity. CM Fadnavis said that the average power purchase rate has come down to Rs 3 per unit, especially in the wake of the government’s move to increase solar power generation capacity against an average of Rs 6 per unit from the state-run MahaGenco.

“The power tariff will continue to fall every year by 2 per cent for the next five years, against the average rise of 9 per cent in the last 20 years,” he said.

CM Fadnavis announced that the state government is not running away from its promise to provide crop loan waiver, saying that it will be implemented by July 1 next year.

“The government is committed to providing crop loan waivers, and the high-level committee has been mandated to give recommendations. The loan waiver will be one of the options to make the farmers debt-free. Even though the government had implemented a loan waiver in 2017 and 2020, the farmers are making a fresh demand for the same,” he noted.

Despite opposition from various stakeholders, the Chief Minister said the government will go ahead with the implementation of a Rs 86,000 crore Nagpur-Goa-Shaktipeeth Expressway, terming it a game-changer for Maharashtra.

“The government has changed the alignment of the Shaktipeeth Expressway from Solapur to the Sangli region following the concerns raised by farmers and others. The proposed Expressway will largely help Marathwada and boost the development of the region.

Further, he said the government is also implementing the Mumbai-Kalyan-Latur-Hyderabad Jan Kalyan Marg. All these projects, in addition to Samruddhi Marg, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, will help industries develop,” he announced.

As far as Mumbai is concerned, the present metro network of 91 km will be increased to 132 km in the next two years, Fadnavis said, adding that the work of 50 km of the metro network is being completed.

–IANS

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