Maharashtra Annual Plan 2007-08 finalised at Rs 20,200 cr

New Delhi, Feb 7 (UNI) The annual plan outlay of Maharashtra for 2007-08 has been finalised at Rs 20,200 crore as against Rs 14,800 crore for the current fiscal.

This was announced at a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh here today.

The planned outlay includes additional central assistance of Rs 200 crore for projects of special interest to the state.

During the meet Mr Ahluwalia said the state's performance had improved in almost all sectors, leading to economic growth of 8 per cent per annum in the state, close to the annual average growth rate of the national economy.

The state government has restored an investment friendly environment by taking key initiatives such as mega project policy, industrial investment and infrastructure policy. Maharashtra state special economic zones and the passage of Designated Area Bill were also steps in the right direction, Mr Ahluwalia said.

He said the state was doing well in having public private partnerships in infrastructure building and sought opinion on expanding this model to social sector. He said the Planning Commission proposes to have regional consultations before finalising the Eleventh Plan, where these issues can be discussed at length.

Mr Ahluwalia appreciated the efforts to improve rural sanitation and controlling malnutrition in the state. It was pointed out that focused attention is needed to address the problem of regional imbalance and for that inclusiveness has to be given priority.

Planning Commission members pointed out that state-specific flagship programmes need to be monitored closely. More attention should be given to employment intensive sectors like tourism. Need for crop insurance was also stressed.

The state chief minister said that his government has taken number of initiatives to make growth more inclusive. He said increasing emphasis was being put to provide area improvement scheme which were likely to benefit larger section of population.

Human development mission has been set up covering 12 more backward districts. The mission aims at integrating various programmes relating to education, health, nutrition, income generation and to supplement them out of the funds provided, Mr Deshmukh said.

He requested sanctioning of more projects under AIBP, expeditious approval to JNNURM proposals and release of funds for the first phase of Mumbai Metro under viability gap funding schemes. He said development works in suicide prone districts of Vidarbha be sanctioned on outright grant basis.

The State's Minister of Finance and Planning Jayantrao Patil suggested tax incentives for industrial development should be district specific rather than state specific. He sought Planning Commission's intervention in expediting clearances of programmes being taken up under Prime Minister's package.

UNI