Senior IAS officer and former BMC Commissioner IS Chahal appointed ACS (Home), Maharashtra

IS Chahal. File Pic

Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner IS Chahal was on Thursday appointed as additional chief secretary (ACS) in the Maharashtra government's home department, reported the PTI.

IS Chahal was currently serving as ACS in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). He will continue to hold charge as ACS of energy, minsters and industry departments.

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Sujata Saunik, who was appointed chief secretary of the state on June 30, was holding charge as ACS (Home) so far.

NITI Aayog report sets target of doubling Mumbai Metropolitan Region's GDP in five years

Meanwhile, a report prepared by the NITI Aayog on the development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) aims to double the region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next five years, and make Mumbai and its satellite towns a global economic hub, reported the PTI.

At present the region's GDP is Rs 12 lakh crore (USD 140 billion) and it should reach Rs 26 lakh crore (USD 300 billion) by 2030, the report submitted to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde by NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said, as per the PTI.

While there are one crore employment opportunities in the MMR at present, there is a need to create 30 lakh more opportunities, the report said.

CM Shinde said infrastructure and communication facilities are the foundation for the state's development, and work was underway in that direction.

The report said the Maharashtra government needed to focus on seven sectors: Developing Mumbai into a global services hub, facilitating affordable housing, transforming MMR into global tourism centre, integrated development of ports in MMR, creating an industrial and logistics hub, development of cities and sustainable, all-inclusive infrastructure facilities of global standards.

In private sector, investment of about Rs 10 to 11 lakh crore was needed, and cities should be developed as growth engines, the report said.

The MMR, which comprises Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, Palghar, Raigad and Thane districts, accounts for a third of Maharashtra's GDP, the report noted.

Speaking on the occasion, Shinde said his government is working on affordable housing, employment generation, a data centre in Navi Mumbai and the Alibag multi-modal corridor,

Recently, investment projects worth Rs 80,000 crore have been sanctioned, and efforts are on to develop the 720 km-coastline of the state for tourism, the chief minister said.

(with PTI inputs)