Mumbai: Maharashtra state’s budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 is currently underway in the Maharashtra state assembly. The state’s finance and deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, while speaking in the budget, said that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region or MMR, will be developed as an international-class ‘Growth Hub’.

In order to achieve this, trade hubs will be set up in Bandra-Kurla, Kurla-Worli, Wadala, Goregaon, Navi Mumbai, Kharghar, Virar-Boisar.

The state government also aims to take the Maharashtra economy to USD 300 billion by 2030 and take it to new heights and reach the coveted trillion-dollar mark or USD 1.5 trillion by 2047.

The state of Maharashtra is the largest state economy within India.

The state FM also announced a major decision to exempt Port Development from property tax.

In his speech, Pawar said, “In the “Maharashtra Maritime Development Policy-2023”, port development has been exempted from property tax, non-agricultural tax, electricity duty, stamp duty, and industrial rates have been implemented for electricity. Passenger and port taxes have been exempted to promote passenger shipping and coastal tourism.”

At the beginning of the speech, Pawar highlighted the state election results. While speaking in the Maharashtra state assembly, he said, “The people gave an unprecedented majority to the Mahayuti in the November 2024 assembly elections. Heartfelt gratitude to all the people! This trust is a sense of responsibility and guarantees to uphold its honor.”

New Delhi, March 8: The Labour Ministry on Saturday urged the platform workers to self-register themselves on e-Shram portal, so that they may be considered for the benefits under the scheme at the earliest.

The gig and platform economy is expanding, offering new jobs in sectors like ridesharing, delivery, logistics, and professional services.

NITI Aayog has projected that the gig economy in India will employ over 1 crore workers in 2024-25, subsequently reaching 2.35 crore by 2029-30.

Recognizing the contribution of the gig and platform workers to the nation’s economy, Union Budget 2025-26 announcement has provisions for registration of online platform workers on e-Shram portal, issue of identity cards, and healthcare coverage under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The AB-PMJAY health scheme provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation across over 31,000 public and private empanelled hospitals in India.

For early implementation of these Budget provisions, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is soon launching the scheme, and has asked platform workers to register on e-Shram Portal for formal recognition and access to AB-PMJAY benefits.

“As a first step, Ministry requests the Platform Workers to self-register themselves on e-Shram portal, so that they may be considered for the benefits under the scheme at the earliest,” it added.

The platform aggregators are also requested to disseminate this information among the platform workers engaged with them and facilitate them to register on e-Shram portal.

Meanwhile, over 30.58 crore unorganised workers have been registered on the e-Shram Portal for receiving benefits under various social welfare schemes of the government.

The e-Shram portal has registered over 1.23 crore workers in 2024, averaging 33,700 enrolments per day.

The e-Shram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them with a Universal Account Number (UAN) on a self-declaration basis.

The e-Shram portal has been integrated with the National Career Service (NCS) Portal. An unorganised worker can register on NCS using his or her Universal Account Number (UAN) and search for suitable job opportunities. A link has also been provided to the workers registered on the e-Shram portal to seamlessly register on the NCS.

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has intensified its crackdown on Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri, the absconding couple in the Rs122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank.

Blue Corner Notice Issued

The EOW has issued a Blue Corner notice against Hiren, the alleged mastermind and former chairman of the bank, and Gauri, who was the acting vice-chairman. Investigators have traced Hiren to Abu Dhabi and Gauri to Thailand, leading to the issuance of the notice. The EOW had initially issued a lookout circular.

Now, with confirmed foreign locations, the alert has been issued. The Blue Corner notice will help track Bhanus’ locations, monitor their activities, and facilitate their arrest.

According to EOW sources, the duo fled abroad just before the scam was exposed. As per the probe, Hitesh Mehta, the bank’s general manager, executed the fraud under the instructions of the Bhanu couple.

Reports indicate that they received Rs28 crore from the embezzled funds. Hiren fled to Dubai on January 26, while Gauri left for Thailand on February 10 just before the scam was uncovered on February 12.