Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a series of meetings with several top leaders in Delhi over the last two days to discuss and secure financial assistance for the implementation of various development projects in Maharashtra.

During his two-day tour to Delhi, he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister and BJP National President J.P. Nadda, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and NITI Aayog officials. The meeting with BJP leader Mr. Shah at Parliament House lasted for about 25 minutes. According to the CMO, the projects and issues concerning Maharashtra were discussed.

Mr. Fadnavis, also the State Home Minister, sought approvals and assistance for three projects from global financial institutions during the meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman. These projects include financial assistance of $1 billion (₹8651 crore) from the Asian Development Bank for the concretization of roads in rural Maharashtra, the second project— resolving rising sea levels in Maharashtra through natural means requires assistance of $500 million (₹4326 crore), and assistance of $500 million from the World Bank for reuse of sewage for industrial purpose.

According to the CMO, Ms. Sitharaman gave instructions to the Finance Ministry to approve all three projects.

During the meeting with J.P. Nadda, Mr. Fadnavis proposed the set-up of a 12.7 lakh tonne fertiliser project in Nagpur district, a joint venture between GAIL, the Fertiliser Department and the Maharashtra government. The State government has asked for a subsidy for a project worth ₹10,000 crore.

Mr. Fadnavis also submitted a proposal worth $2.6 billion (₹22,490 crore) to the Union Ministry of Rural Development to build 14,000 km of roads in Maharashtra. Shivraj Singh Chouhan called the project “ambitious” for farmers, providing “good connectivity”.

Meanwhile, with NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subramanian, Mr. Fadnavis discussed projects, including Artificial Intelligence for NCD (Non-Communicable Disease) screening, the bamboo-based cluster (both projects worth $500 million each), Marathwada Water Grid and Damanganga-Godavari river interlinking project, and other water conservation projects worth $1 billion.

NITI Aayog officials praised Maharashtra for maintaining the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limit at 18% against the limit of 25%