Energy security, agriculture growth, SEZs as drivers of economic growth, urban infrastructure, Maharashtra as IT destination and tourism for rural development are the issues which will be discussed in two-day long Maharasthra: Vision 2010-Stratgies and Action, conference.
Senior political leaders from state including chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, top bureaucrats of key ministries like industry, energy, urban development, tourism etc. and industry captains like Swati Piramal, Arun Nanda, Jignesh Shah and respected names from various other fields like Anil Kakodkar, Michael Carter etc will participate in the conference.
We want to provoke and motivate, politicians and bureaucrats from Maharashtra to become action oriented and help Maharashtra consolidate it's numero uno position in the country, said M N Chaini, chairman of the Maharashtra Economic Development Council.
Energy security is absolutely vital for Maharashtra's progress, it is a good sign that politicians and bureaucrats have woken up to this issue. But so far their vision is limited to only generation but nobody is talking about securing the fuel sources and improving the mess in the distribution system, Chaini pointed out.
He added, "our distribution system is in absolutely mess and we have transmission and distribution losses of nearly 30 per cent and where as world standard is around 11 per cent and to improve distribution system you need political will but our politicians are only talking about ultra mega power plants and other such fancy schemes".
No attempts are being made to ensure that gas is made available to power plants at right price and ensure that they get right quality coal, said Chaini.
Chaini said, "at present Maharashtra's per capita income is around Rs 32,000 and in 10 years time, our collective aim should be to triple this income.
