Four-lane national highways to Nashik to be completed by April

MUMBAI: The first phase of the four-laning of national highways to Nashik is expected to be completed by April ’07, according to state PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

Speaking at a seminar, ‘Advantage Nasik’, organised by Maharashtra Times and the Promoters and Builders Association of Nasik, Mr Bhujbal, who is also the guardian minister for the district, said that the four-laning of the Igatpuri-Gondhe stretch of the Mumbai-Nasik-Dhule-Agra road will be completed by April ’07. The Nasik-Pune highway and the Nasik Vaijapur-Aurangabad highway would also be converted to a four-line highway.

Highlighting Nashik’s tourism and business potential, Mr Bhujbal urged the businessmen present at the seminar to invest in the city as Mumbai and Pune have reached their saturate point. He added that efforts are also on to improve the infrastructure in the district by increasing the water and power supplies.

Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel admitted that the poor air connectivity was a major obstacle for business growth in the region. The air-cargo hub, which is coming up in the state, is expected to kick off operations in November. He added that his ministry was pushing for higher FDI limit in the smaller aircraft and helicopter services.

Businessmen, who made presentations at the seminar, urged the government to streamline processes and resolve issues pertaining to land acquisition so that the city could emerge as the next IT hub after Pune.
Industry minister Ashok Chavan said that along with Nasik, centres like Kolhapur, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Sindhudug, Nanded and Latur have the potential to be developed into business hubs.

As for land allotment for the special economic zones (SEZ) in the state, he said that the state government already has its policy in place. He said that the state will protect the livelihood of farmers and will not allocate land that is used for agriculture.