Aiming to complete its vital irrigation projects, the Mahrashtra government has decided to raise '2 lakh crore by selling or mortgaging its unused land in Mumbai and other parts of the state.
Aiming to complete its vital irrigation projects, the Mahrashtra government has decided to raise '2 lakh crore by selling or mortgaging its unused land in Mumbai and other parts of the state. The government has also set up a committee, to be headed by additional chief secretary (finance) D.K. Jain, to search for such unused land and calculate its valuation.
A Government Resolution (GR) of the finance department, issued by Mr Jain on August 16, stated that the state was in need of Rs 80,000 crore to complete certain irrigations projects. It said that the construction of the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Highway would need at least Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. The state will also need another Rs 40,000 crore for the upgradation of the existing state highways into national highways.
The GR has also stated that Maharashtra Power Distribution Company will require more than Rs 30,000 crore to reduce electricity leakage. The work will help to reduce power leakage from existing 14.5 per cent to 8 per cent. “Huge funds are required to complete these development works. Completion of these projects will in turn boost the development of the state,” said Mr Jain.
Minister of finance Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “It is not possible to allocate huge amounts for the completion of work from the existing revenue that is generated. We also have a limitation of imposing new taxes. Hence, we are looking at other resources to raise the money to fund crucial projects.”
Mr Jain said that in other countries such as China, land was the main resource of raising funds for the government.
“If we concentrate on monetisation of land, there will be no need to hike the taxes. It will benefit both the common man and the industries,” he added.
Other members of the committee headed by Mr Jain includes principal secretary (revenue and forest), principal secretary (ud-1), principal secretary of PWD and water resource, secretary of revenue, forest, industries, energy and labour departments.
