Mumbai
Speaking to the media persons during an informal interaction, CM said that the state government had prepared a detailed plan for providing drinking water to a few districts of Marathwada in coming days.
Updated : Dec 22, 2015, 07:05 AM IST
Stating that drinking water would be a grave issue for handful of Marathwada districts in next six months, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that it would result in negative agricultural development rate hampering the economy which would force the state to go for off-budget borrowings.
Speaking to the media persons during an informal interaction, CM said that the state government had prepared a detailed plan for providing drinking water to a few districts of Marathwada in coming days. He said that going by the current situation, there is a fear that the places from which state government had planned to take water to supply the nearby areas of Marathwada would also face drinking water problem. This is a grave situation, Fadnavis said it would lead to negative agricultural development rate and would increase the stress on the economy.
Saying that the state government would be required to go for off-budget borrowings, Fadnavis said that since 50 per cent people are dependent on agriculture, negative growth rate of agricultural development would impact manufacturing and service sector. He said that in such scenario government would have to explore new investment strategies, including off-budget borrowings and bringing out bonds.
Fadnavis said that the state as big as Maharashtra would have to maintain the growth rate above 10 per cent. He said it is a prerequisite for undertaking the expansion plans in various sectors and for attracting the investment for next 3-4 years, these measures were required to be taken so that state gets the benefit from cascading effect of growth. Expressing the need for changing agriculture economy in the state, CM said that massive program for farm ponds, open wells, providing agricultural power pumps would prove to be game-changer.