A High Power Committee of the Maharashtra government on Saturday took stock of the impact major projects in the State might have from extended exposure to the crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS).
Senior officials said the finance department has been asked to collect data on major projects that may be affected owing to IL&FS defaulting on its debt obligations. An official in the Industry Department said, “We have asked agencies monitoring mega infrastructure projects to look into this issue [IL&FS]. The committee’s scope is limited in the sense that we mostly monitor projects related to manufacturing.”
The IL&FS is undertaking several infrastructure projects in the State, including Fagne-Maharashtra/Gujarat border and Amravati-Chikli road projects, which are being executed by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
The committee also gave the go-ahead to three top electric vehicle manufacturing firms to set shop in the State. The committee cleared three proposals by international firms and forwarded them to the Cabinet Sub Committee on infrastructure for scrutiny. The clearances come soon after the government awarded a contract earlier this year to set up the first 50 charging stations under its new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy.
Going electric
“We have cleared these [projects], but are still assessing some remaining components,” Chief Secretary D.K. Jain said. The committee also cleared a major project under the State’s new textile policy for Vidarbha and Marathwada. Earlier this year, the government issued a special ordinance directing planning authorities to issue permissions for setting up charging stations for electric vehicles at public parking lots, housing societies, gas stations, railway stations.
The policy was approved in February and it permitted private players and green vehicle firms to build the stations. The Urban Development Department (UDD) also framed ground rules that require the stations not to obstruct movement at public spaces and comply with fire safety measures.
The UDD has directed planning authorities to clear proposals within 15 days after checking if they adhere to prescribed norms. The new EV policy has provisions to provide aid for building stations, subsidised electricity rates to manufacturers, and 25% capital subsidy for the first 250 stations. The policy aims to make the transport system go electric by 2030 and create five lakh jobs with a ₹25,000-crore investment.
