NEW DELHI : The Annual Plan for Maharashtra for the new financial year has been finalised at Rs. 20,200 crore at a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

The outlay includes an additional Central assistance of Rs. 200 crore for priority projects.

Dr. Ahluwalia noted that the State's performance had improved in almost all sectors. Its economy, he said, had been growing at an average rate of 8 per cent every year and caught up with the annual average growth rate of the national economy.

An investment-friendly environment had been restored and initiatives such as the mega project policy, industrial investment and infrastructure policy, special economic zones and the "Designated Area Bill" were steps in the right direction. The State was also doing well in having public-private partnership in infrastructure development.

The Planning Commission would hold regional consultations on these issues before finalising the 11th Plan programmes, he said. The Commission's members pointed out that focused attention was required to address the problem of regional imbalance and for that, inclusiveness had to be given priority. The State-specific flagship programmes, they said, needed close monitoring. More attention should also be given to employment-intensive sectors like tourism.

Mr. Deshmukh said his Government had taken a number of initiatives to make growth more inclusive. This included adequate provision of funds proportionate to population for various components of the Plan. Increased emphasis was being accorded to area improvement scheme, he said.

The human development mission, set up to cover 12 more backward districts, aimed at integrating programmes relating to education, health, nutrition, income generation and to supplement them out of the funds provided, he said.

The Chief Minister sought funds for the first phase of the Mumbai Metro under the viability gap funding schemes, while noting that development works in the suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha should be sanctioned on outright grant basis.

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