Fadnavis Pushes for Maharashtra Projects

Mumbai, Jul 25 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a series of high-level meetings with senior Union ministers in New Delhi over the past two days to secure central approvals and financial assistance for a wide range of projects, officials said here.
He met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers J P Nadda and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan besides NITI Aayog chief executive officer BVR Subrahmanyam and member Rajiv Gauba, among others.
During the meeting with Sitharaman, the CM discussed five major projects for which Maharashtra has sought assistance from global financial institutions, with total proposed funding of over USD 3.5 billion, a statement from the CMO said on Friday.
Maharashtra has sought USD 1 billion for constructing cement roads in villages with populations over 1,000, USD 500 million each for coastal erosion prevention and municipal wastewater treatment and reuse, and additional funding for two projects from the World Bank.
In his meeting with Nadda, Fadnavis discussed a proposed fertilizer manufacturing plant in Nagpur district. The 12.7 lakh-tonne capacity project will be a joint venture involving GAIL, Department of Fertilizers and the Maharashtra government. The state has requested a subsidy and central support for the Rs 10,000 crore project.
The CM also met agriculture minister Chouhan to push for a Rs 22,490 crore (USD 2.6 billion) project for building 14,000 km of cement roads in rural areas, with maintenance-free standards for 25 years. The project seeks Asian Development Bank's assistance.
Chouhan praised Maharashtra for conducting one of the fastest surveys under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, with over 30 lakh homes sanctioned for the state, the CMO statement said.
In discussions with NITI Aayog, Fadnavis discussed several tech-driven and sustainable initiatives including AI-based NCD (non-communicable disease) screening, Rs 4,300 crore bamboo-based industrial cluster, Marathwada Water Grid, Daman Ganga-Godavari river-linking project and skill development initiatives connecting ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) with private industry.
NITI Aayog officials lauded Maharashtra's fiscal prudence -- maintaining an FRBM limit of 18 percent against the permitted 25 percent -- and assured expedited clearances for key projects, the statement said.
The meetings with Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh were courtesy calls where issues related to Maharashtra's ongoing central collaborations were discussed, it said.