The economy of Maharashtra is the largest among all the states in India. The most urbanised of the states, Maharashtra is endowed with some in-built advantages over all other states. The port, the two airports, the railways and the entertainment industry are the mainstay of Mumbai, the state headquarters, which also regarded as the financial capital of India. Almost all major banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and mutual funds main centres are based in the city, as well as India’s largest stock exchange are located in Mumbai.
Maharashtra contributes over 20 percent of national industrial output while around 45 percent of the GSDP is contributed by industry. Maharashtra has huge software parks in Pune and its environs. It is the second largest exporter of software, with estimated annual exports exceeding Rs.80000 crore. Although having highly industrialized pockets, more than 24 percent of the working age population is employed in agriculture and allied activities.
Successive Maharashtra chief ministers have been announcing determination to make the state the major contributor in the national resolve to develop India’s economy into a 5-trillion behemoth. Chief minister Eknath Shinde has articulated this dream in more concrete terms, taking off from the vision outlined by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Both have emphasised on the infrastructure development, which will remain the focus, coupled with industrial development in more and more areas of the state.
According to Shinde, the GDP of Maharashtra is already 15 per cent of the national GDP. The FDI flow in the country shows that Maharashtra’s share in this infusion is almost 30 percent. The industrial production is around 20 per cent of the national production while the GST collection is 15 per cent. In the export market, Maharashtra contributes nearly 20 percent. Maharashtra’s employment generation capacity is about 68 percent. Considering their cumulative impact, a trillion-dollar economy appears a certainty, at least on the planning board.
A distinct roadmap to achieve a trillion-dollar target will provide impetus for holistic growth across core sectors at the first meeting of the State Economic Advisory Council (SEAC), presided over by Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who heads SEAC. The meeting focused on making Maharashtra the biggest contributor in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a five trillion-dollar economy by 2027.
To achieve this objective, Maharashtra will have to make itself a trillion-dollar economy with emphasis on bringing about a qualitative improvement in the overall quality of life of the common man. The pathway to make it happen will involve a holistic growth of agriculture, industries, and infrastructure.
This was the theme of the event at which Modi recently inaugurated the first phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, that connects Nagpur and Mumbai, the two capitals of Maharashtra. This Super Communication Expressway, 701 km-long, is named the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg. When completed by the end of the year, it will be one of India’s longest expressways, spanning Maharashtra’s ten districts by also linking Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik urban conglomerates.
The project will upgrade connectivity of 14 other districts along the way, accelerating development of 24 districts of the state in all. Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra regions thus will have easy access to Mumbai. The Nagpur to Shirdi section has been inaugurated by Modi on 11 December 2022. It is already proving to be a game changer as the user density has been going up day by day.
This expressway shows how an infrastructure project can benefit Maharashtra and the country as well. Primarily, this link will reduce travel time from Nagpur to Mumbai from the present up to 18 hours to just eight hours. This will complement development along the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, providing quick access to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust on one hand and to tourist locations like Ajanta, Ellora Caves, Shirdi or Lonar lake on the way.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), a public body, has developed the in an eco friendly manner. Rs.300 crore has been spent to make it safe and friendly for the wildlife areas it touches or passes through. There are eight overpasses and 92 underpasses throughout the route for the wildlife movement. Plans are afoot to generate 250 MW of solar energy on this highway. Planting millions of saplings for small and big trees will make this highway a greenway, as visualised by Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who has been supervising the progress of the work on a daily basis.
Development of industrial areas along the highway will include hubs for agro-industries, logistics, food processing, cold storage and service centres. Some industrial and residential townships planned in the vicinity will generate direct and indirect employment on a huge scale. Within a few years, the landscape along this expressway will be seen to have changed to an unbelievable extent.
One grouse about Maharashtra is that it has only a few concentrated development pockets while most areas of the state are neglected. This is true to some extent as earlier, only Mumbai, Pune and Nashik have seen development of industry. With the opening of the highway, this disparity will vanish over the years. Business activities will grow towards Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad and Jalna. Providing special incentive packages and infrastructure to these areas will attract big ticket businesses to avail of this newly opened opportunity.
Sensing this potential of infrastructure development, the Maharashtra government is carrying out development works all across the state to remove disparity. No wonder, Maharashtra has the highest number of infrastructure development projects underway. Modi’s gift of Rs.2 lakh crore to boost infrastructure in the state will come handy to speed up the works.
However, the task of balanced development around Maharashtra is a tall challenge for the government. When Maharashtra is considered as a whole, its total GDP is an estimated 404 billion US dollars as of today. When one excludes Mumbai metropolitan region, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad, the GDP of Maharashtra is just 39 billion dollars. The average per capita annual income in Maharashtra is of Rs. 2,11,140. But it is only Rs.31162 minus these five cities. Moreover, the average rural income of a farmer in Maharashtra, away from these five cities, is a mere Rs.16504. Mumbai metropolitan region, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur and Aurangabad contribute over 87 percent of Maharashtra’s GDP. The rest adds just 13 percent. This disparity is chronic and herculean efforts will be needed to achieve developmental equilibrium in Maharashtra.
It is a good sign that this stark reality has been recognised by the government. Determined steps will have to be taken to ensure a balanced development and growth while marching towards the goal of a trillion-dollar economy of Maharashtra.
