Fadnavis budget rains sops on Vidarbha, Marathwada

Mumbai: The Maharashtra budget for 2023-23 unveiled by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday rained sops on the backward regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada, which have been neglected over the years. Many projects and schemes mentioned by him, though, had been announced earlier too.
The deputy CM granted funds for projects right from irrigation to wildlife to education to farmers in both regions. Vidarbha in particular, and Nagpur in general, seemed to have received most of the funds.
Presenting his first budget, the southwest Nagpur MLA announced that farmers from both Vidarbha and Marathwada regions would get Rs 1,800 cash per year instead of foodgrains in the 14 disaster affected districts. He also allocated Rs 160 crore for dairy development in 11 districts of both regions.
He said the monsoon runoff from the Wainganga basin will be diverted through the Wainganga-Nalganga-Painganga interlinking project to the drought-prone areas of Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, Buldhana and Washim districts in Vidarbha.
Various programmes would also be organized on the occasion of Marathwada Mukti Sangram Amrut Mahotsav year, and sufficient funds will be made available for the purpose, he added.
To overcome the ongoing problem of irrigation and drinking water in Marathwada, Fadnavis said the process had been initiated for creation of primary, secondary and tertiary water grid. The proposal for Marathwada Water Grid was sent to the central government for approval under the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme.
He announced that the Krishna-Marathwada irrigation project will benefit 133 villages in Dharashiv and Beed districts, and the revised administrative approval of Rs 11,626 crore was accorded to it.
The deputy CM said the Centre would be requested to approve the Tapi Mahapunarabharan project, important for irrigation of West Vidarbha and North Maharashtra.
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Major allocations for Vidarbha & Marathwada:
* African Safari & Bird Park to be made functional next year at Gorewada Zoo
* Rs500 crore for universities & educational institutes, including Nagpur & Gondwana varsities, Vidarbha Inst of Science at Amravati
* LIT to be independent university on lines of COEP at Pune
* Rs160 crore for dairy development in 11 districts of Vidarbha-Marathwada
* Modern orange processing centres at Katol, Kalameshwar, Morshi & Buldhana at Rs20 crore
* Gosikhurd project to get Rs1,500 crore, completion by June 2024
* New govt medical colleges at Amravati, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Wardha & Buldhana
* Jungle Satyagraha memorials at three places in Maharashtra, including Vidarbha
* Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) Nagpur to get funds for building construction
* Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh to get Rs10 crore grant for its centenary year
* 4-lane road from Sindkhedaraja node to Shegaon, to connect it with Samruddhi highway
* Rs100 crore for Mihan project at Nagpur
* Development of airports at Belora in Amravati and Shivni in Akola
* Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport to be expanded
* Logistic hub on 1,000 acre in Nagpur, central place for transportation in India
* Nagpur Metro rail’s 2nd phase of 43.80km to be started, Rs6,708 crore required for it
* Akola PDKV to get international agricultural facility centre at College of Agriculture
* Rs25 cr for development of Gadgenagar as Samadhisthal & Runmochan as Karmbhumi
* Rs25 crore for former governor late RS Gavai’s memorial in Amravati
* Grand memorial for freedom fighters who sacrificed lives in 1942 at Ashti in Wardha