00:00So Maharashtra is heading into assembly polls and the state has seen a wave of development projects.
00:06Now Deputy Chief Minister CM Devendra Fadnavis's role has been exemplary. Now today to discuss
00:13the projects and their developmental role further we are being joined by Dr. Yogini Deshmande,
00:19who is the Technical Director of Renuka Consultants from Mumbai. Welcome ma'am,
00:24thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for inviting me and
00:28Superspably to all your viewers. Ma'am without any further ado I would straight
00:32off jump into the questions. Now all of us know that Aurangabad and the larger Marathwada region
00:39have you know faced a long period of under-investment and we can also call it neglect
00:44if we can. So in your view what specific strategies did the Devendra Fadnavis's
00:50government adopt to overcome this historical imbalance and how effective do you think
00:56have these been in levelling the playing field with all the other parts of Maharashtra?
01:01Yeah it is true that you know in Maharashtra there have been major centres like Mumbai,
01:07Pune and Nagpur which have been the major centres of financial growth and economic growth and which
01:14in fact contribute to a large percentage of the GDP of Maharashtra. Whereas the rest of Maharashtra
01:20be it the Vidarbha side or Aurangabad Marathwada side has been vanquishing in terms of progress
01:26for many many decades since Maharashtra has been formed you could say. And so from that
01:32perspective the formation of AURIC which is the Aurangabad Urbanization Centre that they have come
01:40up with, with which they are looking to develop a new smart city a little outside of Aurangabad.
01:50I think that's a major move from a development perspective. This city is supposed to be
01:58primarily catering to industrial development and industrial growth. So you have a lot of
02:06major players that are already looking to build large factories.
02:11So ma'am Aurangabad and the larger Marathwada region have faced a long period of under-investment
02:17and neglect. Now in your view we would love to know what specific strategies did Devendra
02:23Fadnavis's government adopt to overcome this historical imbalance and how effective have
02:29these been in levelling the playing field with other parts of Maharashtra?
02:32Dedicated Fed Corridor which starts from Delhi all the way to Mumbai would also get connected
02:39with Aurangabad. So that the movement of goods could happen from Aurangabad to Mumbai or to
02:45Delhi which are whatever way it is necessary. And for this purpose then a joint SPV was formed
02:53to ensure that Aurangabad is developed as an industrial township through the so-called AURIC.
02:59And this joint venture is going to help bring prosperity to the Aurangabad region
03:09also connected with the rest of the country. It is necessary for us to decentralize our
03:15cities. Primarily what has happened over the decades is that Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur have been
03:20the major sources of income for the people of Maharashtra. The jobs within the regions
03:28that are closer to them 150 kilometers in itself. So keeping these things in mind
03:35it was just you know whatever the city has been planned for Aurangabad is going to be very
03:41beneficial for the people over there. Absolutely. So ma'am continuing on this now Aurangabad
03:48industrial city that we are talking about AURIC is often cited as the centerpiece of
03:53Marathwada's industrial revival. So could you also share your insights on how AURIC is positioned
04:00to meet both the region's economic needs and also attract sustainable long-term investments
04:07and also tell us what sectors you think show the most promise here?
04:12Maharashtra is called as a Rakata Desha, Dhaka Desha. Rakata Desha meaning that you know it is
04:18mostly boulders or it has a very strong stone in that sense of things.
04:24Marathwada specifically you know it's very well known most people relate Marathwada to famines
04:32and so over here the major way to develop is industrial growth is to ensure that there's
04:38some kind of manufacturing that is set up and if you decide to put up manufacturing
04:43then obviously you want to ensure that the goods will be able to travel to the
04:52major townships and to the rest of the country or to the rest of the world whatever has been
04:56manufactured. So what this means is that the connectivity of the cities has to be developed
05:01from where the manufacturing is going to happen and the government is putting it
05:06this in two ways. So it's not just giving options for major manufacturers to
05:17set up their manufacturing units in Aurangabad as one of this. The other also is looking at
05:24how the multilodal logistic systems can be developed in a proper sustainable way. So there
05:31is going to be a major IOT based systems that are going to be adopted, web applications that
05:37will be adopted to ensure that the movement of goods happen in a continuous way without any
05:46issues that can happen for it to not be transported. So from this perspective
05:54the government is looking at tackling it in two ways, ensuring that there is proper infrastructure
05:59in terms of roads, railways connectivity. So Aurangabad, the Auric city is connected to the
06:05Aurangabad airport in itself within about 10 to 12 kilometers. It is connected to the Pune
06:10International Airport and it will be connected to Mumbai through the Samriddhi Mahamarga. So you have
06:17connectivity through major ports or major cities directly through road infrastructure.
06:26So right now ma'am, what sectors are showing most promise and where do you think is the
06:34Manufacturing sectors in terms of equipment manufacturers,
06:39scooters, automobile manufacturers are looking to put up their
06:46manufacturing plants in Aurangabad which I think will bring a lot of
06:52employment and development to the region. Absolutely, which is probably a little similar
06:57to how Pune has been as well. Yes, definitely. Strategic connectivity offered by Delhi-Mumbai
07:04Industrial Corridor and Auric's proximity to key ports and airports like how you just
07:08mentioned are game changers for industrial growth. Now, how are these logistical advantages
07:14impacting the investment decisions and also the region's larger appeal to global
07:20manufacturing giants, if you could tell us more about that. Basically, because it's strategically
07:25located near Mumbai, Auric will be located near Mumbai, you have India's top logistics hub
07:31which is going to be close by, be it Bangalore or the JNPT port
07:39with the other road networks that are developing, these are going to be closer. Now also
07:46central to Auric's development is the, like I mentioned earlier, is the development of the
07:52information and communication technology which is being developed by the government in itself
07:58and it will underpin what is called as a smart, this identified as a smart city.
08:05Now what this is going to do is it ensures that integration will streamline the operations of
08:11movement of the manufactured good and ensure that there's a real-time monitoring
08:19of everything. What they are also going to ensure is everything is online, e-governance is
08:25optimized up to the ultimate so that any bureaucratic issues that happen in normal
08:33this, it will get reduced as much as possible. So the idea is that the e-governance model
08:40will ensure that the bureaucratic hurdles are reduced and there is a smooth transition
08:46from the factory to the seller and to the customer in itself of the
08:52manufactured good which obviously is going to be very attractive for the global manufacturers to
08:58come to Aurangabad. Absolutely, that does make a lot of sense. Okay, now while economic development
09:05we know is extremely crucial, sustainability is also a very growing priority these days.
09:12So what are some of the environmentally conscious initiatives within Auric's infrastructure and
09:19how do you see Parnivis's effort for Maharashtra's broader industrial growth
09:24while preserving resources? So I think this government's emphasis on sustainable growth
09:32at the state level or at the center level is definitely been this right from the beginning
09:40from using the push for solar energy happening and major solar projects that
09:49are coming up in Maharashtra. There has been a separate policy in terms of this itself.
09:57Also looking at to employ clean reusable and recycling methodologies, pushing for
10:04rainwater harvesting and obviously given while we look at development we cannot ignore the
10:14actual environment and the others of the region. So Aurangabad region definitely does have low
10:21rainfall and so with a green infrastructure ensuring a rainwater harvesting systems
10:30and energy emission building systems, it's going to ensure that everything is sustainable
10:36and we are not having issues of any water being reduced in use and less quantities or
10:48something like that. The green initiatives that are being adopted by the BJP-led government in
10:54Maharashtra which includes a push for rainwater harvesting especially in region like Aurangabad
11:01which is very well known to be a drought prone region is going to be very important because
11:09all of these initiatives will ensure the manufacturing units are not shut down for
11:15want of water. Right, absolutely. I think that was a great conversation here. Thank you so much for
11:22joining us and I will catch you very soon with another set of questions. All eyes I think right
11:28now are definitely looking towards Maharashtra and specifically towards this Marathwada region
11:35and to see what changes really happen here. Thank you so much for joining us ma'am. Thank you.
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