Government clears Rs. 919 Crore for AMRUT projects in Rajasthan

Ministry of Urban Development has approved the first batch of state level Action Plans under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) aimed at enabling water supply as per the norm and providing water supply and sewerage connections to all urban households. An inter-ministerial Apex Committee of AMRUT chaired by Shri Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary(Urban Development) cleared plans worth Rs.2,786.28 cr in this regard for 89 cities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Apex Committee of AMRUT approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) for the three states for 2015-16. Gujarat proposed SAAP entailing an investment of Rs.1,204.42cr followed by Rajasthan –Rs.919 Crore and Andhra Pradesh proposing an investment of Rs.662.86 cr.

This is for the first time that the Urban Development Ministry approved state level plans unlike the past practice of appraising and approving individual projects. The approved Action Plans have a total of 143 projectsin 89 AMRUT cities in these 3 states. These include 47 schemes relating to ensuring water supply connections and augmenting water supply and 31 projects for expanding sewerage network services in identified cities and towns. The rest pertain to storm water drains, urban transport and green spaces and parks. Under AMRUT, Central Government will provide an assistance of 50% of project cost for cities with a population of up to 10 lakhs each and one third of project cost for cities with a population of above 10 lakhs each. Rest of the project cost has to be borne by the states and urban local bodies. As per these norms, central assistance for the approved projects in three states comes to Rs.1,356.23 cr.  First installment of central assistance of Rs.118.03 cr for Gujarat, Rs.91.90 for Rajasthan and Rs.66.29 for Andhra Pradesh under Atal Mission will be released shortly.