Centre offers Rs 10000 crore for Manmohan's Mumbai dream

The Maharashtra government has drawn ambitious plans, totalling Rs 31,500 crore, to refurbish Mumbai into an international city like Shanghai, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said here today.

The Centre has offered to provide Rs 10,000 crore help to the various projects drawn for making the city another Shanghai, Deshmkh said in an interview on the occasion of completion of 100 days of the Democratic Front government. The Rs 10,000-crore assistance promised by the Centre would be received in Rs 2,000-crore annual grant for five years, he said.

The projects planned to give the metropolis a facelift include Mumbai-metro rail link, trans-harbour project, ring railway project and Wadala truck terminus project, removing encroachments, beautification of international airport at Mumbai, Mumbai-urban infrastructural project and upgradation of King Edward Memorial Hospital, he said.

The state government has also urged the Centre to make provision for Mumbai in the Union Budget, Deshmukh said. The main focus of these projects would be to showcase Mumbai and provide the city with modern infrastructure to match with international standards, Deshmukh said.

To a question what would the state do if the help from the Centre did not arrive, Deshmukh said, "We will go on but with the Centre's help, the projects are expected to be expedited."

The chief minister said converting Mumbai into Shanghai was the dream of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he would personally ensure that the funds came in from the Centre for this purpose.

"Mumbai gave the country one-third revenue by way of taxes and hence it becomes the duty of all the people to develop this city which has given so much to India all these years," he said.