Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that renewed investments in various industrial projects along with infrastructural development will take Maharashtra to the first position in the country again.
After acknowledging that Mumbai has faced competition from metro cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Fadnavis strongly feels that both Mumbai and Maharashtra will emerge as the chosen destinations for investors.
During an interactive session with Fadnavis, he spoke about the state’s economy, agriculture, and infrastructure. He added that the government is keen on launching the oil refinery project at Barsu in Konkan as well as build Vadhavan port at Dahanu in the Palghar district. With the addition of these two projects, the face of Maharashtra will transform.
Fadnavis mentioned that a proposal has been pending regarding the use of Mumbai Port Trust Land for the development of Mumbai for quite a long time. Mumbai Port Trust has to be recognized as a planning authority. But this proposal was not approved considering the relationship between the state and the Centre during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. A committee was appointed to consider it. Two of them agreed to the proposal, while one member opposed it. But our government has decided to recognize Mumbai Port Trust as a planning authority. It will provide a large amount of land for the development of Mumbai.
The government has given priority to the Vadhavan port project near Dahanu in Palghar and the oil refinery project in Konkan. The proposed oil refinery project at Nanar was opposed. The project is now planned to be set up at Barsu instead of Nanar. As there was no decision regarding the project during the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, it was planned to divide the project but now the state government has discussed the issue with the stakeholders. The earlier planned production capacity and huge investment project are going to be realized in full capacity,” he said, adding that land acquisition for the project was almost complete and further tests were underway. On the Vadhavan port, necessary decisions have been taken to resolve the environmental issues pertaining to the land in the Dahanu development area next to this project.
He said that during the earlier tenure of the BJP-Shiv Sena government, many projects like Metro, MTHL, Coastal road, Samriddhi Expressway, and Navi Mumbai airport had been started. Fadnavis expressed his belief that although their progress was “stalled” during the tenure of the MVA government, these projects will now take off at a fast pace and the state will get a boost of economic development.
