Nagpur: Maharashtra’s last two left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts — Gadchiroli and Gondia — have shed the Red tag and were reclassified as legacy and thrust (L&T) districts by the Union home ministry through a mid-March circular, ahead of the March 31 deadline set by the central govt to make the country free of Naxalites.The L&T category is the final stage before full normalisation. It means the govt now only needs to consolidate its position to ensure further development and prevent any revival of insurgency. While a circular was issued earlier this month, sources say both Gadchiroli and Gondia got their new L&T status last year itself. The surrender of top Maoist leader Bhupathi in October in Gadchiroli before CM Devendra Fadnavis was the key factor behind the district’s change of status. Gondia was relieved of the LWE tag in June 2025 itself. Districts are classified on the basis of the intensity of Maoist activity and is done in consultation with the concerned state govt. The upgrade to L&T governs both security deployment and economic incentives. Project subsidy consultant Julfesh Shah said, “This includes 100% refund of state GST (SGST) dues. At the same time, mega industries investing in Gadchiroli can also avail incentives over and above the amount pumped in. Any project investing more than Rs 500 crore in the districts gets the mega industry status. In places like Pune or Mumbai, it needs an investment of more than Rs 1,000 crore to get a mega industry status.” A senior state govt official said there had been no change in industrial incentives so far.As per the Union home ministry order, there are only two Naxalite-hit districts in the country. These include Bijapur in Chhattisgarh and West Singhbhum in West Bengal. The two remaining districts of concern are Kanker in Chhattisgarh and Kandhamal in Odisha. The districts of concern are those where Maoists have been brought under control and areas are on the verge of being free of Red terror. With this, none of the districts in the country remain in the “most affected” class.
