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Eye on polls, Maharashtra Cabinet clears 25 decisions in single meeting

Most of the decisions were related to revenue expenditure. State’s fiscal managers said that these would further burden the exchequer, which has been reeling under a mounting public debt.

Mahajanadesh Yatra Consolidate party’s prospects in north Maharashtra: CM’s message to cadre Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a public rally in Jalgaon on Friday. (Express)

GOING INTO an overdrive, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a raft of decisions to reach out to various sections of voters ahead of the state polls.

With the model code of conduct for the polls expected to kick in mid-September, the Cabinet approved 25 decisions, which included distributing 75,000 solar-powered farm pumps, approving fiscal grants to previously unaided educational institutions, releasing additional grants to urban local bodies for solid waste management, and providing fiscal incentives to developers who would promote tourism.

Most of the decisions were related to revenue expenditure. State’s fiscal managers said that these would further burden the exchequer, which has been reeling under a mounting public debt.

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Officials said the proposal to release grants to previously unaided educational institutions alone will cost the excheuquer Rs 304 crore. The solar farm pump project will cost Rs 1531 crore.

The government on Wednesday also agreed to give a Rs 50-crore bank guarantee to the tribal department-promoted Shabri Vikas Mahamandal to raise loans. The state-run corporation provides financial help for self-employment projects among tribals.

Festive offer

To encourage urban local bodies to set up waste processing and treatment plans, the Cabinet decided to provide a grant of Rs 1,500 per tonne of compost made out of wet waste treatment. Also, municipalities that would become garbage-free before the end of the year, will receive additional funds in the form of discretionary grants. Moreover, the Cabinet announced a 100 per cent state GST refund to the movie Mission Mangal.

Further, some big ticket infrastructure projects were given the green light. A Rs 2,100-crore project of building a mass rapid transit network in Nashik, using an electricity and battery operated Metro Rail system, was approved.

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The Cabinet also approved Rs 992 crore as additional cost towards land acquisition and development of the special economic zone at the Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport in Nagpur (MIHAN).

A revised administrative approval for the much-delayed Jigaon irrigation project, meant to irrigate about 87,580 hectare in Buldhana and Akola, was sanctioned. The project is now expected to cost Rs 13,874 crore.

First uploaded on: 29-08-2019 at 03:04 IST
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