The Maharashtra government on Saturday appointed the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) CEO Pravin Pardeshi, who is a retired bureaucrat, as the Chief Minister’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) on the lines of the CEA at the Centre.
He will have the Minister of State rank and the CEA’s post will remain in place till the tenure of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
He will lead the Directorate of Economics and Statistics and the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre to prepare a data- based administrative structure.
The state general administration department released a notification on late Saturday evening on Pardeshi’s appointment as Chief Minister’s CEA.
His appointment comes at a time when the state government is pursuing its aim to making Maharashtra a trillion dollar economy.
His mandate includes preparation of Maharashtra’s Vision 2047 and policy to boost the gross state domestic product, preparation of rules and provide advice on policies with regard to taxation, labour, land and fiscal, submit a quarterly report on state finances to the state Cabinet on behalf of the Chief Minister and give advice at the time of presentation of policy proposals of the Finance department to the state Cabinet on financial burden and other financial matters.
As the CM’s CEA, Pardeshi will evaluate the proposals to be presented to the state Cabinet on key financial changes and also the agricultural and industrial policies.
He will assist the government in the preparation of a structure to provide incentives to electric vehicles, micro, small and medium enterprises, green energy and logistics.
He will also finalise and supervise the implementation of policy on the development of border areas and District GDP Initiative.
Pardeshi will coordinate and supervise the implementation of various initiatives launched by NITI Aayog, including Urban Growth Hubs and District Strategic plans.
He will assist the state government in the preparation of strategy budgetary estimates and suggest the distribution of resources to priority sectors.
Pardeshi will coordinate with various government and international financial institutions, including NITI Aayog, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs and other Central government agencies.
He will take the initiative in the implementation of various projects funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development, among others.
He will maintain a coordination with global think-tanks and knowledge institutions.
He will also assume the responsibility of development of dash board for the Chief Minister’s Office showing the present financial condition and use of a system to detect shortcomings in the necessary infrastructure facilities and unorganised economy.
He will prepare data ecosystem and make projections with regard to Artificial Intelligence.
Pardeshi will provide his inputs for the formulation of a policy on giving incentives to industries and special economic zones, suggest measures to remove blocks to boost ease of doing business and initiate dialogue with state government agencies and various industrial bodies, including CII, FICCI and startups.
Moreover, Pardeshi will have to give inputs for knowledge management and capacity building, establish study groups on employment, inflation and trade, organise lectures and experimental workshops on various topics and provide guidance to young economists and analysts associated with the state government machinery.
He will suggest measures to address issues such state revenue deficit, debt burden and slowdown in various sectors.
