MUMBAI, May 25 -- The Maharashtra government has sought special grants for two projects - developing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) as a growth hub and for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela scheduled to be held in Nashik in 2027. The demand was made at the 10th governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog on Saturday in New Delhi. The meeting took place under the theme 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047', where the states shared their plans to achieve the target of a 'developed nation'. While addressing the governing council, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state has also prepared a plan titled 'Maharashtra 2047',' which would be executed in three phases. Following this, the government has successfully implemented a 100-day programme and initiated another 150-day programme, he said. "We are working to achieve the target of making Maharashtra a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030, and a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2047," the chief minister said. "Under the guidance of Niti Aayog, we are developing the MMR sector as a growth hub, with the aim of making it a 1.5-billion-dollar economy by 2047. For this, we are expecting the central government to provide special financial assistance," he added. During the visit of the 16th finance commission to Mumbai, the state government had sought a sum of Rs.50,000 crore as special grants for the MMR economic master plan. It was part of the state's memorandum in which it had sought special grants worth over Rs.1.28 lakh crore from the finance commission. "The economic master plan prepared by us aims to propel it (MMR) into a 1.5-trillion-dollar economy by 2047. This requires an investment of Rs.16.50 lakh crore with a significant 70%, amounting to Rs.11.75 lakh crore, sourced from private investment. The state will need to provide an outlay of Rs.3.1 lakh crore essentially through parastatal organisations, and additional support amounting to Rs.50,000 crore, apart from investment of Rs.1 lakh crore from the central government," the memorandum stated. "To realise this national growth hub aspiration, we request a special package of Rs.50,000 for financing NITI's MMR master plan implementation." On the Kumbh Mela in Nashik, the chief minister said, "We are hoping that Maharashtra will receive the centre's guidance and financial assistance for the Nashik Kumbh Mela in 2027." The state government has already approved a master plan for the religious festival, to the tune of Rs.4,000 crore. Fadnavis is on a two-day tour to New Delhi. On the second day of his visit, he will attend a meeting of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from BJP- and NDA-ruled states called by Modi. Deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar will also attend the meeting, which is being seen as a coordinated attempt to reinforce the NDA government's stand on national security and send a unified message after India's counter-terror operation across the border....