Maha Govt committed to help in realising the Vikasit Bharat vision by 2047 & has taken significant steps to align with it, Eknath Shinde in his speech at NITI Aayog meet

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday assured the Prime Minister that the state government has taken significant steps to align with the national agenda of Vikasit Bharat @ 2047 and has initiated transformative measures to ensure the fulfilment of development goals. In his address at the Niti Aayog Governing Council meeting in New Delhi, Shinde said, ‘’I want to assure our leader Prime Minister

Modi ji that our State is committed to help in realising the Vision of Vikasit Bharat by 2047 and Maharashtra has aligned it’s vision and mission with the national vision. Maharashtra has always been at the forefront of progress and development, and today, we reaffirm our dedication to the cause. Farmers, Women and Youth are the pillars for building the nation and we are committed for their welfare.’’

Shinde gave an overview about a slew of initiatives taken by the state government in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation, industry, women, health, youth and skill development. ‘’To overcome the on-going problem of irrigation and drinking water in Marathwada, ‘water grid’ project is initiated in the State. We request the Hon’ble Prime Minister to support us in both the ambitious projects,’’he urged.

Shinde said that the state is making great strides in improving the transportation infrastructure.

On the Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thakaray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, which is almost complete, Shinde said it will reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur to just 6-7 hours. Further, the Maharashtra Shaktipeeth Expressway is planned to connect 3 Shaktipeeths, 2 Jyotirlingas, and pilgrimage centers in east, west, and south Maharashtra. This will reduce the travel time between Nagpur and Goa by 10 hours.

Further, the Virar-Alibaug Multimodal Corridor will connect three National Highways, JNPT, the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, and the Trans Harbor link. This will be a major transportation hub for our state. The Maharashtra State Road Improvement Project and the Hybrid Annuity Scheme are on- going projects for improvement of roads.

Referring to the Rs 1 lakh crore plus Ahmedabad Mumbai Bullet Train and Mum,Bali Metro 3 project involving carshed at Metro, the Chief minister without naming targeted the Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi government for its stand and its tiff with the Centre. He however, said, ‘’My Government has removed all obstacles from the ambitious national scheme, Ahmedabad- Mumbai Bullet Train which were lying pending in the last government’s tenure.We have resolved the Aarey Land Dispute for Metro Car Shed and mobilised the Metro projects. 337 Km long Metro network is being developed in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Thane which is a network bigger than complete Europe.’’

Shinde said that the River linking Project is proposed for meeting the deficit of Godavari basin and Mumbai City. Monsoon runoff from Konkan will be diverted through the river interlinking project to the drought-prone areas of Vidarbha. ‘’To overcome the on-going problem of irrigation and drinking water in Marathwada, ‘water grid’ project is initiated in the State. We request the Hon’ble Prime Minister to support us in both the ambitious projects,’’ he added.

Plug & Play model for manufacturing

Shinde said that Maharashtra is a leader in Industrial Production and attracts a major portion of FDI. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has adopted a plug-and-play model for manufacturing, which allows investors and entrepreneurs to quickly start their operations with minimal capital investment. The model has been designed to address the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector and is being implemented on a pilot basis in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Nagpur, and Pune.

Minimising compliances

Under Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) and other initiatives, the government has taken a number of steps for reducing the regulatory compliance burden on businesses and citizens such as reducing 906 business-centric compliances and 81 citizen-centric compliances, repealing 64 Acts, setting up 32,453 Aaple Sarkar Sewa Kendras, making 119 services accessible through the MAITRI portal – State’s Single

Window System integrated with National Single Window portal and decriminalisation of 137 provisions under Ease of Doing Business.

Thrust on MSMEs

Maharashtra is the most industrialized state in India with a strong base of over 4 million MSMEs. We have taken many initiatives such as making provision of Rs 10 crore for a CFC under a cluster scheme for MSMEs. ‘’We have a Chief Minister Employment Generation Program (CMEGP), which is similar to the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP). Our yearly target is to create more than 15,000 entrepreneurs through this programme,’’ said Shinde.

Under PM SVANidhi scheme, loans are disbursed to 446403 applications. Out of which 1st loans are 3,77,906, 2nd loan 64,684 and 3rd loan are 3,813. The state has 60% digitally active street vendors. The state has successfully conducted the Svanidhi Mahotsav 2.0 in Pune, Thane, Aurangabad and Bhandara.

Health & Nutrition

The state government is in process of taking a landmark decision of Equalization of scheme benefits of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna schemes. Beneficiaries of both schemes will get the benefit of 1356 medical and surgical procedures with a balance sum assured of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year. Approximately 2.72 Crore families will be benefitted by these schemes.

Youth

On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the state government has assured recruitment of more than 1.5 lakh government jobs to our youth from the state by December this year. Employment Fairs are arranged in the state regularly to award appointment orders. ‘’We have launched ‘Modi Awas Gharakul Yojana’ for Other Backward Class beneficiaries,’’ he noted.

Skill Development

The state government has taken several initiatives for promoting employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation which include training over 10 lakh candidates and providing employment to over 2 lakh youth. ‘’We are setting up a State Skills University and launching MTech programs in Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, and DevOps, Promoting start-ups and incubators. The state is a Top Performer in States Start-up Ranking Framework and we are launching INR 200 Cr. Maharashtra Innovations and Technological Development Fund,’’said the Chief Minister.

State Telecom Infrastructure Policy

Under Bharatnet- II project the optical fibre connectivity in the identified villages has been completed upto 88%. 92% of Talukas and 77% of Gram Panchayats are fully connected under Bharatnet-II infrastructure. FTTH (Fiber To The Home) for last mile connectivity is being undertaken by identifying 5 Departments (Public Health Centres, Agriculture, Schools, Police Stations and Ration Shops.) to boost usage of Bharatnet Infrastructure. Monetization of Bharatnet Infrastructure is also being done by leasing of Dark Fibre through e-auction.

Maharashtra Maritime Development Policy 2023

New investment, people and environment-friendly Maharashtra Maritime Development Policy 2023 shall be unveiled soon. The objective of this policy is to improve water transport and passenger mobility in Mumbai and the Konkan region of Maharashtra.

While Maharashtra has made rapid progress, a leader is never satisfied as there is always room to achieve more. ‘’In this endeavour, I would like to request the Government of India and NITI Aayog to evolve a customized strategy for Maharashtra and likewise for other states so that each state complements and contributes to the Viksit Bharat Sankalp.

Gati Shakti for Area Development and Social Infrastructure

The state has made significant progress in implementing the Gati Shakti Master Plan. Under this plan, we have created an institutional setup in line with the Government of India, with three tiers EGoS (Empowered Group of Secretaries), NPG (Network Planning Group) and TSU (Technical Support Unit).

We have also uploaded 25 data layers on the State Master Plan (SMP).

MRSAC (Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre) has a data bank of state level data (695 layers) and regional level data (455 layers) associated with various state departments/offices.

Shirdi International Airport has been declared as one of the Major Airports. Integrated Cargo facility at the airport will help to boost economic activity and overall development of the Shirdi surrounding area.

Urban ICDS and Maharashtra Migration Tracking System

The state government committed to providing quality nutritional and health services to all children, especially those in urban areas. To bridge the gap, we have accomplished the ambitious restructuring of the Urban ICDS in Maharashtra and are upgrading the existing Balwadis in Municipal Corporations. We are also developing the Maharashtra Migration Tracking System (MahaMTS) to ensure that services are portable to migrant families.

Furthermore, to provide specialized inputs and guidance, the state government has established the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) – a think-tank who will offer strategic, functional, and technical expertise to the state leadership and government departments. ‘’We are grateful to the NITI Aayog for agreeing to handhold us through this process,’’ he said, adding that the state government has constituted an Economic Advisory Council, comprising CEOs and Managing Directors of large companies across sectors, who will provide recommendations on key focus areas to drive economic growth.

Understanding that districts are the fulcrum of development, the state government has embarked on an ambitious District Development Strategy.

‘’Maharashtra has taken the lead by launching the Aspirational Cities Program to address the issue of rapid urbanization. Maharashtra is the Second highest exporting State of India. State has formed Maharashtra Export Promotion Council (MEPC) and District Export Promotion Councils (DEPCs) for export promotion. State has finalized 72 ODOP (One District One Product) products, 2 from each district comprising Agriculture and Manufacturing products, a total of 27 clusters are based on ODOP.