Maharashtra sends SOS to FM

in an sos to finance minister yashwant sinha, maharashttra chief minister vilasrao deshmukh has urged him to bail out the state government from the crisis that has arisen due to a huge outgo on cotton. the state urgently needs rs 1,000 crore to avoid an immediate crisis. as per the chief minister's own admission, the scheme is currently reeling under a shortfall of rs 2,700 crore. considering the falling rates and a slump in the textile industry the state is set to face an additional a loss of around rs 1,500 crore this year. the state wants the finance minister to direct the rbi to relax an rbi ruling which has prevented the maharashtra state co-operative bank, the principal financing body for all co-operatives in the state, from making funds available for the scheme this year. the reason cited by the rbi for preventing mscb is non-payment of its dues by the state government. the mscb is yet to receive around rs 650 crore it had paid for the cotton procurement last year. this year rbi has put a cap of rs 500 crore. the rbi wants the state government to clear its backlog before it receives a fresh round of funding from the mscb. though the state government wants assistance from mscb it has also expressed its inability to clear its back dues. with no money coming and the procurement already begun, the state wants the rbi to relax its condition. i spoke to sinha last night and urged him to consider our government's proposals on these two matters to overcome the cotton payment issue since cotton growers are agitating for one-time payment, said deshmukh. the chief minister has dispatched minister for marketing ganpatrao deshmukh to new delhi to meet mr sinha and apprise him of the situation. the monopoly cotton procurement scheme has been bleeding the state's dilapidated economy. this year is going to be particularly bad. the bumper crop and rising imports have already started hammering cotton prices down. responding to the global situation, the centre has announced its minimum support price which is fixed at rs 1,800 per quintal. however, maharashtra wants to buy cotton at rs 2,300 per quintal, thanks to political compulsions. maharashtra, in this situation, is facing the danger of attracting cotton from the neighbouring states.

Maharashtra sends SOS to FM

IN an SOS to finance minister Yashwant Sinha, Maharashttra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has urged him to bail out the state government from the crisis that has arisen due to a huge outgo on cotton.

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