Maharashtra may get Rs 1 trillion deal

The union finance commission was considering a proposal to provide a special package to Maharashtra to enable the state wipe out its whopping Rs 1 lakh crore debt, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said today.

About half of the Rs 1 lakh crore debt was payable to the centre, and the state had urged the finance commission to recommend a special package for Maharashtra, Deshmukh told PTI in an interview on the occasion of completion of 100 days of the Democratic Front government.

"The special package would contain reduced interest rates and certain waiver schemes, but details were not known as it has not been finalised," Deshmukh said.

The state government would also endeavour to find out ways and means to increase revenue and obtain fresh loans at cheaper rates to pay back funds obtained at higher rates, Deshmukh said.

The government has drawn up ambitious plans, totalling Rs 31,500 crore, to refurbish Mumbai into an international city like Shanghai, Deshmukh said.

"The centre has offered to provide Rs 10,000 crore for various projects drawn up for making the city another Shanghai," Deshmkh said.

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 the Mumbai metro rail link, the trans-harbour project, the ring railway project and the Wadala truck terminus project, removing encroachments, beautification of the international airport at Mumbai, the Mumbai urban infrastructural project and upgradation of King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, he said.