Gadchiroli to be the next ‘steel city’; district will be Naxal-free in three years: Fadnavis

Replying to the debate on the opposition-sponsored last week motion in the legislative assembly here, Fadnavis listed several infrastructure projects across the state and farmer-centric initiatives.

He said the northern part of the Gadchiroli district, bordering Telangana and Chhattisgarh, has been rid of Naxals and is on the path of development.

Naxals have either been killed or surrendered, he said. About 1,500 youth from the district, which is in the state’s Vidarbha region, have joined the police force of which 150 are from families of Naxals, the CM said.

“There has been no recruitment by Naxals from Maharashtra. In the next three years, Naxalism will be completely eradicated from Gadchiroli,” he said.

Fadnavis said capacity building for Gadchiroli, about 900 km from Mumbai, to make it the “steel city” of India is in full swing.

He said Gondia and Gadchiroli are being linked through the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway.

Since 2022, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed and BJP-led Mahayuti took charge of the state, 47 projects and investments worth Rs 1.23 lakh crore have come to the Vidarbha region, he said.

The CM called the new regime a continuation of the government of 2022 when his present deputy Eknath Shinde was the CM.

“Only responsibilities have changed. The development works (in the state) are a continuation of the efforts in the last two and a half years. Collectively, we have taken all decisions,” said Fadnavi, whose party BJP has Shiv Sena and NCP as partners in the government.

The government is focused on the river-linking and irrigation projects and industrial development of Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, he said.

“After Pune, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna belt is the next industrial magnate. It has already been announced that the Vande Bharat coaches will be manufactured at the Latur coach factory,” he said.

In Marathwada, 34 projects, including a Toyota-Kirloskar venture, with an investment potential of Rs 72,839 crore and capable of generating 40,000 direct and 1 lakh indirect jobs, have come since 2022, said the CM.

Fadnavis told the House that his government would continue to take Maharashtra on the path of development and ensure justice for the state’s 14 crore population. “All our election promises will be fulfilled,” he assured.

The CM said a bonus of Rs 20,000 per hectare for paddy growers and Rs 5,000 per hectare for soybean and cotton farmers have been provided.

Soybean procurement, which will continue till January 12, has started at 557 centres and 23.68 lakh tonnes of the grain legume crop have been procured so far, he said. At present, the rate of soybean is Rs 4,892 per quintal, he said.

In 2024-25, cotton has been grown on 40 lakh hectares and a production of 427 lakh quintals is expected, the CM said.

“CCI (Cotton Corporation of India) has opened procurement centres but the market rate is attractive at Rs 7,200-7,500. Hence, farmers are selling directly to traders,” he said.

The Mumbai-Goa highway work has been taken up on a war footing, he said.

“The permission to raise the height of Almatti dam from 519.60 metres to 524 metres was given to Karnataka in 2013. We are keeping a watch and will ensure that people and farmers in the Sangli and Kolhapur districts do not suffer due to flooding,” he said. PTI MR NR