Maharashtra aims 10% growth in 11th Plan

Maharashtra has set a target of 10 per cent growth for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. The state wants to ensure that its service sector grows at 12 per cent, industry at 10 per cent and agriculture at 3 per cent to achieve this double-digit growth target.

The 10-per cent growth plan was revealed by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at a meeting called by the Planning Commission to finalise the draft of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for the western states.

Representatives of Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the Union territory of Dadra-Nagar-Haveli attended the meeting which was chaired by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Deshmukh said, "Maharashtra's state gross domestic product (SGDP) has been increasing at around 8 to 8.5 per cent during the Tenth Five-Year Plan. We want to go a notch further and achieve double-digit growth which will help the country to achieve a growth of around 8.5 per cent."

"To enable agricultural growth, the state will complete all the irrigation, soil and water conservation projects that are under way, to bring stability and productivity to the agriculture sector," Deshmukh said.

"The state has been a leader in automobiles, engineering, pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals and we will consolidate our position in these industries by attracting more investment and creating more job opportunities," he added.

Calling for substantial allocation for meeting calamities in the Eleventh Plan, he pointed out that the state faced a drought in the first three years of the Tenth Plan and floods in the fourth year.

"The state's scarce resources had to be diverted towards fighting these calamities." He added that the Planning Commission should issue guidelines for privatising water supply and sanitation schemes.