Maharashtra Budget: Govt to spend Rs. 300 crore to set up 50 industrial parks in tehsils

Following criticism over the rise in unemployment rate across the country, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced it would set up industrial parks in every tehsil for micro, small and medium industries to create jobs.

As part of a pilot project, it will start creating parks in 50 tehsils, for which the government has made a provision of ₹300 crore. It has also introduced the Chief Minister Employment Generation Programme (CMEGP) to encourage youth towards self-employment, with an aim to set up 10,000 small industries this year. State finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar declared the schemes while presenting the budget 2019-20 in the state Assembly on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in its recent report, revealed that unemployment rate in the country was 6.1% of the total labour force in 2017-18, the highest in the past 45 years.

“Micro, small and medium industries have more potential of employment generation compared

to big industries. So, the government will give an impetus to these industries by setting up industrial parks in 50 tehsils under a pilot project. Of the total plots developed under the scheme, 30% will be reserved for women entrepreneurs,” Mungantiwar said. “We plan to set up 10,000 small industries, giving preference to women, entrepreneurs from scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST).”

However, he didn’t divulge more details about the programme. Also, there was no mention of allocation of funds for its implementation.

The state government has further declared ₹500 crore for a special skill development programme to provide employment to youth from Maoist-hit areas such as Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Gondia districts. “The idea is to desist youth from such activities,” the finance minister said, adding, “For this year, the government has proposed to allocate ₹150 crore.”

To provide various employment opportunities to youth and women from minority communities, the government has decided to start a skill development programme, for which an allocation of ₹100 crore has been made in the budget, he said. “We intend to start a skill development programme for students who have failed in Class 10 and 12,” Mungantiwar said.

“All these announcements will remain on paper, as the government will not be able to do anything in three months, after which the code of conduct for the state Assembly election will come into force. The outcome of these announcements will not be different than the memorandum of understandings (MoU) signed during ‘Make in India’ and ‘Make in Maharashtra’ initiative,” said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik, taking jibe at the state government.