Mumbai, June 30: The Maharashtra government on Monday tabled the bill for the establishment of the 16-member Gadchiroli District Mining Authority for the coordination and supervision of orderly and rapid development of the mineral-bearing area and execution of plans and projects.

The authority will be headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Gadchiroli district guardian minister. The government’s move is important as it hopes to finish the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and develop Gadchiroli as the next steel city of India.

The district is endowed with abundant minerals such as iron ore, hematite, magnetite, BHQ, limestone, Dolomites and coal, which are used as raw materials for various manufacturing industries.

Further, Gadchiroli district, which is rich in iron ore, has the potential to be developed as a hub for mineral-based industries, especially the steel industry, said the bill.

“Currently, the absence of an integrated administrative mechanism hampers the swift execution of the mining project. Hence a need was felt for the establishment of a unified authority comprising of certain ministers and secretaries of the relevant departments under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to expedite mining approvals and foster the growth of mineral based industries such as steel and cement, thereby accelerating the holistic development of the Gadchiroli district and consequently of the state,” said the bill.

It pointed out that the authority will act as a catalyst in speeding up the process of operationalisation of approved mining leases, and will also generate employment in the district and boost the revenue of the state.

According to the bill, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and rules framed thereunder govern the development and regulation of mines and minerals. The major mineral blocks are auctioned following the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015. The mining concession holder is required to obtain various clearances and no-objection certificates from various departments and district officers of the government and local authorities within the timelines prescribed in the rules.

If the bidder fails to meet the prescribed timeline, the alloyed major mineral blocks will have to be auctioned again.

The Chief Minister last week at the industry conference said, “Gadchiroli 10 years ago was zero industrial area, nobody thought that it would become an Industrial magnet. Due to a slew of policies, Gadchiroli is becoming a new steel city of India to produce one-third of India’s steel that will change the entire outlook of the district.”

New Delhi, June 30: The CBI has booked a former manager of the State Bank of India branch in Assam for possessing allegedly illegal assets worth over Rs 80 lakh, an official said on Monday.

Pinku Kumar, former Branch Manager, SBI, Ramkrishnanagar Branch, Karimganj, is also facing a separate investigation over his alleged collusion in a multi-crore scam involving sanction of loans using forged documents, the official said.

CBI’s Shillong-based Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered the latest Disproportionate Assets case against Pinku Kumar on June 27 after receiving a complaint from a preliminary investigator.

The complaint alleged commission of criminal misconduct by Pinku Kumar while intentionally enriching himself illicitly, during the check period from April 1, 2019 to March 27, 2025.

During this period, he was found in possession of pecuniary resources/property, disproportionate to his known sources of income which he cannot satisfactorily account for, to the tune of Rs 99.20 lakh -(81.84 per cent DA), said the CBI FIR filed against the former bank manager.

Taking note of the preliminary probe conducted in the matter of criminal misconduct, the CBI’s FIR said, “The facts mentioned in the aforesaid complaint, prima facie, reveal commission of congnizable offences, punishable under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended 2018) on the part of Pinku Kumar.”

Section 13 of the Act defines various forms of criminal misconduct by public servants. These include actions like abusing their position, misappropriating property, or possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Earlier in March, the CBI booked Pinku Kumar twice in separate corruption cases naming two brokers Sumen Paul and Jadab Paul, along with the former, in each of the cases.

Raids conducted by the federal agency in these two cases led to seizure of 481 grams of gold, 11.11 gram of diamond-studded jewellery and 1,092 gram silver.

The CBI investigation showed that the former bank manager conspired with the two brokers and allegedly approved loans base on forged papers, leading to a loss of crores of rupees to the SBI.

Mumbai, June 30: Maharashtra Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday presented supplementary demands worth Rs 57,509.71 crore for the financial year 2025-26 on the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Legislature.

This comes amid reported constraints over the availability of adequate funds due to the ballooning fiscal and revenue deficits and mounting public debt.

Of the Rs 57,509.71 crore, the allocation of Rs 19,183.85 crore has been made for committed expenditure and the balance is to provide funds for various government programmes and also towards the state government’s contribution in the implementation of Central government schemes.

DyCM Pawar, during the budget session held in March this year, had tabled the supplementary demands worth Rs 6,480.20 crore.

A whopping Rs 15,465.13 crore has been allocated to the urban development department headed by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ahead of the upcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other 28 civic bodies to carry out various civic and development works.

Further, Rs 11,042.76 crore has been earmarked for various grants as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. The government has made an allocation of Rs 9,068.49 crore for the public works department to clear the pending dues of Rs 80,000 crore of various contractors for carrying out road and bridge works.

The government has earmarked Rs 3,228.38 crore for the refund of stamp duty cess being collected for metro projects and also for other development works by the municipal corporations, municipalities, municipal councils and zilla parishads.

The Fadnavis government has allocated: Rs 2,240.82 crore towards state government’s contribution for tunnel construction for metro and other transport infrastructure projects, Rs 2,182.82 crore for share capital to cooperative sugar factories for margin money loan to be drawn from the National Cooperative Development Corporation, Rs 2,150 crore for taking benefit under central government’s 50 year long term loan, Rs 2,096.58 crore to various corporations to complete incomplete and long pending irrigation projects, Rs 2,000 crore district roads and bridges, Rs 4,733.11 crore to rural development department, Rs 3,798.93 crore to social justice department to implement ongoing schemes for backward classes and payment of scholarship to eligible students and Rs 2,835.02 crore for cooperation, marketing and textile department.

The state government has earmarked Rs 1,300 crore for the Department of Other Backward Classes to pay scholarships to eligible students.

For the Department of Women and Child Development, the government has allocated Rs 2,665.76 crore. This is to ensure the timely payment of monthly instalments to the eligible women beneficiaries under the Ladki Bahin Yojana and other schemes.

Further, an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for carrying out various development works for the Kumbh Mela in Nashik next year.