Washington

Devendra Fadnavis

World Bank

treasury

Maharashtra

Jalgaon

After the loan waiver announced for Maharashtra’s farmers left the state’s coffers in a precarious position, thegovernment is set to approach theto get aid for three major schemes.CM Fadnavis was advised not to agree to the waiver by bureaucrats, who had predicted that the move would leave the Maharashtrapoorer by over Rs 30,000 crore. Apart from this, the state’s finances will be take a further hit when the BJP-led government implements the Seventh Pay Commission for employees.In June, the chief minister, accompanied by a delegation, will visit Washington to meet the World Bank president seeking aid for climateresilient agriculture, smart-agri projects for agricultural livelihoods, theAgri Competitiveness project, and a plan to harness solar energy for these projects.A senior government officer said that the state recently approved a scheme, the Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Sanjivani Prakalp, also called climateresilient agriculture. “The idea is to enhance farmers’ capabilities to face climate shocks, i.e. the soil’s moisture will be retained, and soil health will improve by using local manure and better quality seeds, which can sustain most conditions of nature,” he said.The programme will be implemented in 5,142 villages of 15 districts, including Marathwada, Amravati Division, Wardha and. The stress will be on post-production issues, and how to minimise crop loss.The rural livelihood programme, worth $300 million, is still in the concept stage and is yet to get clearance from the state Cabinet. The state is also planning to tap solar energy for these projects, for which aid will be sought from the World Bank.The total costs of these projects, Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 1,200 crore respectively, will be borne by the state, while rest will be solicited from the World Bank. The projects will be implemented in six years.When contacted, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis did not comment on the proposed trip to Washington.