“Nagpur region has huge opportunity to develop all six districts with Nagpur city as its nucleus, leveraging the central location and natural resources of all districts,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Saturday. He was speaking at a workshop on strategy for sustainable development of the Nagpur region over the next decade organised by Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) with support from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Nagpur. Fadnavis, in his speech, recognised the lopsided development in the State and stated that these imbalances provide an opportunity for accelerated development in the future. “Even though Maharashtra is the country’s largest economy, its growth has been lopsided. Around 25 districts in the State are aspiring to contribute more to the State’s economy,” said Fadnavis. The Chief Minister further said that the overall growth of the State will increase if every the district becomes a growth engine. “If we have the right strategies for districts with low development indicators, the growth will be exponential. This will bring equity and at the same time help achieve higher economic growth and job creation,” added the Chief Minister. Mio Oka, in her address, underlined the role of the Nagpur region in the overall development of the state. “Maharashtra’s long-term growth will depend not only on its large metropolitan centres, but also on strong regional hubs. This is why Nagpur has a critical role in driving growth across surrounding districts,” said Oka. Adv Ashish Jaiswal, Minister of State for Finance; Sanjay Savkare, Minister of Textiles; Dr Pankaj Bhoyar, Minister of State; Mio Oka, Country Director, ADB; Pravin Pardeshi, Chief Executive Officer, MITRA; and Vijayalaxmi Bidari, Divisional Commissioner shared the dais. Earlier, officers of various Government agencies brainstormed on strategies to develop the region through group discussions. Pravin Pardeshi presented the key highlights of the discussions and the vision report during the programme. The roadmap for achieving the goal of ‘Viksit Nagpur - 2047’ envisions four key themes, viz, green and resilient growth, innovative industrial growth, rising service sector, and livable cities of choice. The programme also featured the publication of ‘Viksit Nagpur 2047 - Sustainable Development Plan’ and the launch of the ‘GIS AI App’ by MITRA at the hands of the dignitaries. Asawari Deshpande compered the programme while Vijayalaxmi Bidari proposed a vote of thanks.