Goa's Annual Plan Pegged At Rs 1,737 Cr

New Delhi: The annual Plan of Goa for 2008-09 has been estimated at Rs 1,737.65 crore, inclusive of additional Central assistance of Rs 35 crore for projects of special interests to the State. This was decided at a meeting between the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Chief Minister of Goa, Mr Digambar Kamat. In his opening remarks, Mr Ahluwalia said the State had impressive achievements both in the social sector and economy with a growth rate of over 10 per cent per annum, which shows that the State was ready to leap forward to the next stage of development by targeting at attaining higher standards of development and social justice during the 11th Plan period. Agro-tourism, agro-processing and organic farming need more focused attention. Mr Ahluwalia said the social indicators of the State like literacy, birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate are impressive. The State Government was also complimented for setting up one of the best health care infrastructure including network of hospitals both in urban and rural areas.