Give impetus to infra, industry development: Gadkari to Chavan

Mumbai: Expressing displeasure over the slow pace of infrastructure development in Maharashtra, former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari has asked Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to give necessary impetus to infrastructure growth in the state. "Maharashtra, once the number one state in terms of industrial and infrastructure growth is lagging behind from last few years drastically on this account." "The indecisive attitude of the state government has affected the pace of infrastructure development in the state. The two big sectors affected are infrastructure and industry." Gadkari said, in a letter to Chavan. "When you took charge of the government two years ago, you had promised fast-track decisions in infrastructure projects. But not one of these mega projects, amounting to over Rs 550,000 crore, has moved. Citing news reports of political conflict between the Congress and the NCP, Gadkari said it is "appearing to have adversely affecting the smooth functioning of the administration in the state government." "Mumbai city is bearing the biggest brunt of this. Various major infrastructure development projects in Mumbai have been substantially delayed, facing huge cost overruns or have simply failed to even get started," Gadkari alleged. "Some projects that got delayed, like the Navi Mumbai airport and the coastal road have remained on paper in the past 24 months," he added On delays in the monorail project and phase one of the metro rail project, Gadkari alleged that delay is because of issues related to illegal land encroachment and delays in getting permission from civic bodies and various authorities like railways. PTI