`49K crore Maha plan approved
The Planning Commission on Thursday has approved a `49,000 crore outlay of Maharashtra for 2013-14, an increase of `4,000 crore in the state’s annual plan against `45,000 crore in 2012-13. The plan size was finalised at a meeting between the Commission’s deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, finance minister Ajit Pawar and other senior ministers. The increase in plan size was approved following `1,200 crore proposed for the rehabilitation of Gosikhurd irrigation project and `500 crore proposed for cement check dam, in order to prevent a drought-like situation for the next year. The Planning Commission also cleared capital budget of Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) of `31,500 crore.
“We have agreed on a plan of `48,500 crore for the current year plus `500 crore for cement nala bund which will help in water conservation, so the total plan size becomes `49,000 crore,” Mr Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting.
In addition, the Commission also approved `31,500 crore for public sector enterprises, taking the aggregate plan for the state at `80,500 crore. Mr Ahluwalia said Maharas-htra is making a major contribution in the growth process as the economic performance of the state in 2012-13 remained at 7.1 per cent, much higher than the national growth of five per cent. He also mentioned about the state’s achievement in human resource area and said it was doing commendable job in bringing down the rate of child malnutrition significantly. “Maharashtra is the only state that has done a survey for 2012. It shows the reduction in stunting. Stunting is one of the critical parameters for long-term malnutrition, it shows a reduction in stunting from 39 per cent to 23 per cent in a short period of five or six years,” he said. Mr Chavan said the state government highlighted five priorities to the Planning Commission that included drought proofing of the state, sustainable rain-fed agriculture, balanced and industrial development, bringing up the education level and
urbanisation challenges. “We also explained the position of drought that Maharashtra has faced in the last two years, therefore drought proofing the state remains a major challenge...we requested for special funding for decentralised water storage and also for completing the ongoing irrigation projects,” Mr Chavan said.
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