According to the statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, Raghunath Mashelkar, president of PIC, said the focus should be on the construction sector, big projects and ease of doing business.

To provide impetus to the state’s economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, economists and experts on Tuesday recommended that the government should focus on the construction sector, large scale projects and ease of doing business among others.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar held a video conference with economists and experts from think-tank Pune International Centre (PIC) on how to accelerate the economy and raise the growth rate.

According to the statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, Raghunath Mashelkar, president of PIC, said the focus should be on the construction sector, big projects and ease of doing business. Vijay Kelkar, PIC vice-president said recommendations will be made on reforms in urban, administrative, health and judicial sectors in the next two months.

HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, also a PIC member, said that maximum concessions should be given to boost the construction and real estate sectors. Some of these included concession in stamp duty for three months, changes in ready reckoner prices and reducing land or property transfer fees with others, he added.

Ajit Ranade, an economist and PIC member, said that 5,000 acre land has been acquired near Mumbai for a special economic zone. Projects on robotics, telemedicine and information and technology, among others, should be executed from there.

The statement quoted Ranade as saying that big projects, such as aerospace and textile, should be brought to the 10,000 acre land that has been acquired in the multi-modal international cargo hub and airport in Nagpur. Also, a plan should be chalked out to bring major projects in Aurangabad, near the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, he added.

Uddhav said a time-bound action plan will be prepared on the recommendations of the experts. “During the pandemic, we have learnt what losses centralisation of the industrial belt can bring about. If the industries are decentralised, such issues may not come up and production will continue in some parts of the state,” he added.