Chavan seeks more funds from World Bank

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan met Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,managing director of the WB,in the state administrative headquarters of Mantralaya on Monday. Officials from the state government,Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the WB were also present.

Speaking to the media later,Chavan said issues like urban housing and value of land in Mumbai were also discussed. He said they had an “excellent working relationship” with the WB at the national and particularly the state level.

Okonjo-Iweala said the state government had sought that funding for MUTP-II be continued and the WB will look into this. Chavan was also congratulated for reforms in Mumbai,especially regarding freeing up space.

In the meeting,Chavan sought WB’s co-operation in expediting the Centre’s and state’s projects in Maharashtra. A WB official said they had discussed how best its funds could be used for Mumbai,apart from getting other financial institutions to pitch in with funds for projects. They added that among others,Okonjo-Iweala also visited Dharavi to understand the city’s issues.

The WB is involved in the state through the Centre’s programmes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Aids Control Programme (NACP). It also funds the state government’s programmes such as the MUTP,Jalaswarajya,Water Sector Improvement Project (WSIP) and the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU).

The state government is looking at improvements in public transport infrastructure through MUTP III,Metro and Monorail; improvement in rural water supply through Jalaswarajya II; reforms in urban water supply and sanitation and the third phase of the MTSU for the city’s transformation as focus areas for future association with the WB. The state is requesting assistance of the WB for in-principle acceptance for loan for VGF provisions for the Metro and Monorail projects.

Chavan requested the continuous engagement of the WB in future MUTP projects and the MUTP III plans to add additional 850 km of railway tracks and 200 new trains,among others at a cost of $6.7 billion. The MUTP I,which is almost complete,has seen 101 rakes being received,which has increased carrying capacity by over 31 per cent,laid 45 km of additional corridors,introduced 15 car rake and added 644 buses to the BEST fleet. The MUTP II will see an additional 88 km of rail track being laid apart from introduction of 96 new rakes.

The state has spent $0.7 bn on the NRHM in the past three years. The rural water supply project Jalaswarajya I has covered 3,009 rural habitations and the project terminates in June. The Maharashtra WSIP,which has an estimated $393.77 mn cost,has seen expenditure of $213 mn,setting up of the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority and completion of 106 canal rehabilitation and 98 dam safety works.