Won't interfere in finance department, says new economic advisor to Maharashtra CM

Praveen Pardeshi, the newly appointed Chief Economic Advisor to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, has said he will be working in an advisory role and not interfere in the finance department headed by deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The retired IAS officer was appointed to the newly created post last week. He already heads the Maharashtra Institute of Transformation (MITRA), a government think tank. Asked about talk that he would end up interfering in Ajit Pawar's domain, Pardeshi said it was not so.

"This is no parallel system but I will be in an advisory role to the finance department,'' he told a Marathi news channel.


A district strategic plan is being worked out as district-level development is important for achieving the goal of turning Maharashtra into a USD one trillion economy by 2028-29, he said. ''Every district needs to be a growth centre to achieve a one trillion dollar economy by 2028-29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said every district needs to be a growth centre, but as of now there is no statistics available for GDP of districts,'' Pardeshi added.