State is back on track, says Finance Commission

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis strongly presented the state's case before the commission, seeking huge funds - Rs 50,000cr - for Mumbai

In a turnaround from its earlier observations, and four days after it called Maharashtra a sinking economy, the 15th Finance Commission of India was all praise for the Devendra Fadnavis government on Wednesday.

Chairman N K Singh told a media conference, that Maharashtra had a much higher growth rate than any other state, and it was moving in the right direction to become a trillion dollar economy in coming years. He said the state continued to be a growth centre for the country. Singh said Maharashtra was a guiding force for other states as far as fiscal management was concerned.

On Wednesday, Singh expressed serious concerns about migration-related issues in Mumbai. He said the increasing population of the city - a result of growing influx from other states - was hampering the basic infrastructure of the metro. He said the commission was thinking of assisting the state in this burning issue.

Concerns raised previously
Last weekend, the commission had raised several concerns. A prolonged press statement by it that came through the Press Information Bureau, had ensured bad publicity for the BJP government, which pointed out some gross misgivings in the report card and defended its fiscal measures, saying the state stood on firm ground as far as its economy was concerned.

CM wants Rs 50k cr for Mumbai
On Wednesday, chief minister Fadnavis strongly presented the state's case before the commission, seeking huge funds for Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Rs 50,000 cr) and also for backward regions like Marathwada and Vidarbha (Rs 25,000 cr). Fadnavis said Mumbai was the backbone of the country's economy. "We must strengthen Mumbai's infrastructure. We need to acknowledge the importance of Mumbai in the nation's GDP," he told the commission.

And, Rs 1.4k cr for environment
The CM also asked for Rs 1,400 cr in special grants as support for environmental management. This included Rs 200 cr for ecosystem conservation, protection and wetland conservation, s R1,000 cr for conservation and protection of rivers, and Rs 200 cr for coastal biodiversity conservation.

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