Mitra: State’s Niti Aayog-like body to make Maha trillion-dollar economy

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Mitra will take studied decisions on various sectors including agriculture, new technology like blockchain, and transport

Mumbai To transform key areas like technology, agriculture and healthcare and make the state a trillion-dollar economy, the Maharashtra government has decided to set up Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (Mitra) on the lines of Niti Aayog. The announcement was made after a high-level meeting with Niti Aayog in Mumbai on Sunday.

According to the officials from the finance and planning department, Mitra will work in close coordination with Niti Aayog with the financial and technical support for the first three years (HT Photo)

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Mitra will take studied decisions on various sectors including agriculture, new technology like blockchain, and transport. He said that the whole idea for the synchronised efforts is to keep the state up with the national target. He said that they deliberated, during the meeting with Niti Aayog officials, upon asset monetization, innovative approach, EV policy, and emerging technology among others.

According to the officials from the finance and planning department, Mitra will work in close coordination with Niti Aayog with the financial and technical support for the first three years. “Niti Aayog officials have assured us help with technological support like data analytics, data sequestration; policy formation, funding and to bring in development strategies. We made a presentation before the Niti Aayog and also discussed the potential growth areas like tourism, sports among others,” the official said.

The officer said that the Mitra will have experts from private, non-government institutions, academicians, professional, and sectoral experts appointed on the governing council headed by the chief minister and executive council headed by the chief secretary. The executive council will meet every quarterly while the body headed by the CM will meet every year. Besides the funding from the centre, the state will have its own outlay earmarked for Mitra.

Fadnavis said that chief minister Devendra Fandnavis has given in-principle approval to Mitra. “The Niti Aayog has also carried out an extensive study on issues like monetization of assets, blockchain in agriculture, non-conventional energy, drone in healthcare and agriculture. It has developed a tool where interrelated data from various departments is collectively analysed for a better decision-making process,” he said.

Maharashtra has set the target of achieving $1trillion by 2027, and $3.5 trillion by 2040.