Mumbai, Feb 18 (IANS): The Maharashtra Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday gave its approval for the establishment of a sixth Finance Commission.
The Cabinet authorised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to recommend the names of the Chairman and members of the Finance Commission to the state Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan.
An officer of the rank not below that of a Junior Administrative Grade Officer in the Indian Administrative Service or equivalent will be appointed as the Member Secretary of the Finance Commission.
It was approved to create necessary posts during the tenure of the Commission, provide necessary office space, and adequate budgetary provision for recurring and non-recurring expenses to run the work of the Commission more effectively.
The Sixth State Finance Commission will review the financial position of panchayats and municipalities and make various recommendations including dividing the net revenue to be distributed among the panchayats and municipalities under Parts 9 and 9-A of the Constitution from taxes, duties, tolls, and fees to be collected by the state and to allocate their respective shares of such revenue to all levels of panchayats and municipalities.
The Commission would make a recommendation on the determination of taxes, duties, tolls, and fees to be transferred to the panchayats or the municipalities or to be appropriated by them.
It would also recommend laying down the principles governing the grant-in-aid to be given to panchayats or municipalities from the consolidated fund of the state. It will also suggest measures necessary to improve the financial condition of panchayats and municipalities.
The Commission may make recommendations on good practices for fund management in the local self-government bodies and other relevant matters for their better financial management.
While making recommendations on these various matters, the population will be the basis for determining the share of taxes, fees, and subsidies.
The Commission will take into account the population figures from the 2011 Census.
The State Finance Commission will make recommendations to the Maharashtra government after taking into account the recommendations of the Central Finance Commission.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved setting up of a solar power project for the Mysal Lift Irrigation Scheme under the Krishna-Koyna Lift Irrigation Scheme and improving the energy efficiency of the scheme with the outlay of Rs 1,594 crore.
The proposed project will meet the annual electricity requirement of about 398 million units for the lift irrigation scheme.
The Krishna Koyna Lift Irrigation Project includes two separate lift irrigation schemes namely Takari and Mhaisal.
The irrigation scheme originates from the Krishna River at Mhaisal. From here, 23.44 trillion cubic feet of water will be lifted in various stages, and through this, water will be available for irrigation in 1,08,197 hectares of drought-prone areas of Miraj, Kavathe Mahankal, Tasgaon, Jat in Sangli district and Sangola and Mangalwedha talukas in Solapur district.
At the time of approval of this project, the Cabinet made a strong case to use solar energy for water pumping in a bid to save the cost of electricity consumption.
The preliminary project report of the capital fund assistance for the implementation of this energy-efficient water management and solar energy project has also been approved by the Ministry of Finance.
A tripartite agreement has been approved for a project worth a total of Rs 1,594 crore, including a loan of 130 million euros (nearly Rs 1,120 crore) from KFW German Bank and an investment of Rs 474 crore from the state government.
The Cabinet has also approved the revised provision of Rs 1,275.78 crore for the medium-sized project of Varkhede Londhe (barrage) in Jalgaon district.
Moreover, the Cabinet also approved the establishment of an anti-drug task force in the state, along with 346 posts and expenditures for it as per the government decision dated August 31, 2023.