Kolhapur to be part of top 10 cities of Maharashtra: MLA Kashirsagar

Kolhapur: MLA and state planning commission head Rajesh Kshirsagar on Saturday said Kolhapur will be included in the top 10 cities of the state through the construction of various ambitious projects.Kshirsagar was speaking at a press conference organised at the govt rest house in Kolhapur to provide information on the approved IT Park and the approved memorial and textile tourism hub on the site of Chhatrapati Shahu Mills."On the basis of urban facilities and development, Kolhapur is known as an important ‘Tier-2' city in Maharashtra. Kolhapur is a major centre of education and has good health facilities in south Maharashtra. Kolhapur is also famous in the field of art, culture, and sports. The approved IT Park and the memorial and textile tourism hub on the site of Chhatrapati Shahu Mills will give new dimensions to the development of the city."Kshirsagar added there will be a huge economic turnover, with employment in the area through IT, services, and complementary industries. In future, a new revolution in the industrial, trade, and tourism sectors will be seen in Kolhapur, he said.The state cabinet had approved the allocation of 34.36 hectares of govt land to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for the development of the IT sector in the Shenda Park area of Kolhapur city on March 5. This decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis."As per the proposal of the revenue department, a total of 34.4 hectares of land in blocks 583, 587, and 588 in the Shenda Park area will be transferred to the MIDC for the development of the IT park. There is a plan to set up an IT park with state-of-the-art facilities here, and govt aims to increase investment in the information technology sector through it," added Kshirsagar.Textile minister Sanjay Savkare gave an in-principle approval to build a memorial befitting the work and thoughts of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj and a textile tourism hub at Shahu Mills. MLA Kshirsagar said, "The ministerial meeting gave instructions to include a memorial and museum that reeflects the glorious history of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj and Chhatrapati Tararani, a Shahu Mill Museum that displays the history of the textile industry, old machinery and methods of weaving cloth, a textile engineering college, an institute of fashion technology, an institute of fabric design, a state-of-the-art auditorium with a capacity to seat 1,000 to 1,200 for cultural and social programmes, a music school, and an amusement park to beautify the area near the Kotitirth Lake adjacent to the mills to increase tourism."