Maha budget gives big boost to infra with Rs 30,000-cr outlay

MUMBAI: The first budget of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, presented in the assembly on Friday, seeks to provide a fillip to infrastructure development in the state by proposing an outlay of over Rs 30,000 crore.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, said the government intends to develop an economic corridor of international standards in Satara district under the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC), project, which is on the lines of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

Along with Satara, the adjoining Sangli and Solapur districts will also benefit from the proposed economic corridor, he said, adding the estimated costof the project is Rs 4,000 crore.

Pawar saida provision of Rs 3,500 crorehas been made to complete the Konkan marine highway in three years.

He said the marine highway was planned keeping in view transportation requirements of the coastal region, but the highway project has still not materialised.

The Revas-Reddy stretch of the marine highway is still under development, he said, adding the entire highway will be concretised and bridges over creeks at Bankot, Kelshi,Dabhol and Jaigad will be constructed.

"The government plans to complete the work in the next three years. Funds will be made available to complete the work through Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in a time-bound manner," the finance minister said.

A 170-km-long ring road has been proposed to divert traffic coming to Pune from Nashik, Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, and make vehicles pass from outside the city, Pawar said.

For this purpose, an expenditure of Rs 15,000 crore is expected, including land acquisition, he said.

"Work will start in the current year and the road will be completed in the next four years by MSRDC," Pawar said.

The government also proposes to implement a urban road scheme for upgrading, widening and beautifying main market streets in all cities coming under the jurisdiction of municipal corporations, councils and municipal panchayats, he said.

A sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for the urban road scheme, Pawar said.

He informed that Rs 1,657 crore will be made available for metro projects in the state for 2020-21.

In addition to the Maan-Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar route under Pune Metro, two new lines - Shivajinagar-Shevalewadi and Maan-Pirangut will also be started, Pawar said.

Along with this, the new Pune Metro line from Vanaz to Ramwadi will be expanded by extending the length of the line from Vanaz to Chandani Chowk and Ramwadi to Wagholi, he said.

The length of the metro line from Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate will be increased and extended from Swargate to Katraj and from Pimpri-Chinchwad to Nigdi, Pawar said.

More funds will be provided this year than the amounts earmarked in the last five years for Pune Metro, said the MLA from Baramati in Pune district.

Under a new rural road development scheme, 4,0000 km of roads will be taken up for construction and completed by 2025, the minister said.

An outlay of Rs 1,501 crore has been proposed for this scheme for the year 2020-21.

He said 'in-principle' approval has been given for expenditure of Rs 86 crore for launch of passenger transport from Mira Bhayander to Dombivli on Vasai-Thane-Kalyan route.

An outlay of Rs 50 crore has been proposed in 2020-21 for the construction of a jetty at Radio Club, Colaba, under Sagarmala programme for passenger transport and tourists, Pawar said.

He said under the Sagarmala programme, construction of jettiesfor Ro Ro service in the coastal ports at Vasai, Bhayander, Kharwadeshwari, Manori, Ghodbunder, Narangi, Malvan, Borivali, Gorai and Ambadveis in progress and an outlay of Rs 65 crore has been proposed for this work during 2020-21.

For the next fiscal year,an outlay of Rs 276 crore has been proposed for port development schemes, Pawar said.

Funds will be made available for construction of airports in Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Akola and Amravati districts, he said.

New airports will be constructed at Solapur and Pune for which an outlay of Rs 78 crore has been proposed during 2020-21, the finance minister said.

A sum of Rs 401 crore has been proposed for purchasing 1,600 new buses to replace the old ones and for modernisation of bus stations of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), he said.

The government has provided additional equity of Rs 8,500 crorefor the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor as a result of which Rs 2,500 crore has been saved from interest on project finance, Pawar added.