Vidarbha state not viable: Prithviraj Chavan

Pointing at figures of income from various resources including Value Added Tax (VAT), former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan claimed that statehood for Vidarbha is not viable. Mr Chavan also said that until big manufacturing units are started at the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), Vidarbha and Nagpur will not achieve industrial growth. State Advocate General Shrihari Aney has repeatedly pressed for a separate Vidarbha, but chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has clarified the matter, saying this is Mr Aney’s personal view.

Talking to The Asian Age, Mr Chavan said carving a Vidarbha state from Maharashtra has been BJP’s open agenda, however, it will not be viable financially. “Taxes from the sales tax department are about '85,000 crore annually. Seventy per cent revenue of total GDP of the state comes from five cities including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Raigad and Nagpur only,” said Mr Chavan. He said Nagpur comes at number five. “If we go through figures of revenue collection through VAT from ten districts of Vidarbha region, we will notice that Wardha has a mere '12 crore VAT collection, Yavatmal contributes not more than Rs 21 crore. Revenue from mines and tiger sanctuary is negligible. There is limitation in bringing industries to the forest-covered districts of Vidarbha region as pollution and environment are sensitive issues,” said Mr Chavan.

Elaborating on why Pune has become an industrial township and auto hub, Mr Chavan said, “Telco laid the foundation stone and later, Bajaj and other industries chose Pune as it was nearest to the sea port located in Mumbai.” The state also provided land for industries at a cheaper rate during the 70s and 80s, he said.

He observed that MIHAN has failed to play an important role in the industrialisation of Nagpur. “During our tenure, we convinced TCS and Infosys to start their IT units in Nagpur. But it was not sufficient. One big manufacturing unit should start at MIHAN, so that allied industries will automatically choose MIHAN for their new unit,” he said. Mr Chavan recalled that he had invited Bharat Dynamics, a missile manufacturing giant and the foundation stone had been laid at Nandgaon Peth in additional Amravati industrial area. However, nothing had happened during the last one year. “Mr Fadnavis should show political will to complete the tie up with Bharat Dynamics,” he said.

Referring to Mr Fadnavis’ approval of a law university and IIM at Nagpur, Mr Chavan questioned whether the students wouldn’t choose Mumbai or Pune and contribute to Nagpur’s development instead.