Rs.2.56 lakh cr for Mumbai makeover Finance minister presents his 20-year investment vision to make city an international financial hub

Rs.2.56 lakh cr for Mumbai makeover

Finance minister presents his 20-year investment vision to make city an international financial hub

The state government is planning to invest more than Rs2.56 lakh crore for development projects in the next 20 years. The amount is in addition to the current cost of Rs1.57 lakh crore being spent on 17 development projects in various sectors including transport, water supply, housing, power and solid waste management. On Thursday, finance minister and guardian minister of Mumbai Jayant Patil made a presentation of the Mumbai projects at Indian Merchants Chamber. Even as Patil said the government was firm on the elevated rail corridor between Virar and Oval Maidan, he was against it as would lead to inconvenience. He also criticised Sena-BJP-run BMC for the poor quality of services and infrastructure of the city. The minister said the state government was committed to make the city an international finance hub and investment for it would be arranged. The government’s estimate of the city population in the next 20 years is Rs3.5 crore. The Rs 20,681-crore elevated rail corridor between Virar and Oval Maidan is one of the ambitious projects of the state government. The 63.2-km corridor with 26 stations has been planned keeping in mind the exhausted capacity of the existing rail services. With the projected investment of Rs2,56,000 crore in development projects in the next 20 years, the government expects employment generation of 1.5 crore jobs. Mumbai Metropolitan Region contributes 37% of the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 70% of the tax collection. The MMR is 2% of the state area and comprises of 20% of the state population. The presentation said 52% of the Mumbai population use rail services while 26 % and 22 % travel by buses. While criticising the BMC’s functioning, Patil said it was a huge municipal corporation but it had become unmanageable. “It has also become difficult for the BMC to ensure that the quality of services is the same in Chembur and Mahalakshmi,” he added. Stressing that the efficiency of the municipal corporations’ governance had to improve, Patil said the state and the central governments played an important role in the state’s progress.