State to get more JnNURM funds, despite poor utilisation

It used only 68 pc of past allocation; many projects delayed in Blore, Mysore

The Centre has given another opportunity to the State to seek funds for development of infrastructure in Bangalore and Mysore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM).

This despite the fact that the State has utilised only 68 per cent of the funds provided under the same scheme in the past.

The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), the nodal agency for JnNURM, has stated that almost all civic agencies have been asked to send proposals for ‘fresh’ projects.

“The Centre has given us time to send fresh proposals for infrastructure projects under an extension of the JnNURM scheme. The proposals are being prepared across all implementing agencies, to be sent to New Delhi,” said Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation MD Darpan Jain.

The Centre has reportedly asked KUIDFC to send the proposals ‘as early as possible’. “We are not sure as to how much of a monetary cap the Central Government is placing on the allocations. But we are looking for as many proposals as possible to be ratified,” said Jain.

It is said KUIDFC is persistently following up with the implementing agencies to get their proposals ratified by the State Government, before sending them to the Centre.

Incomplete projects

Already, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is in the process of preparing the estimates for some of its infrastructure projects, including proposed elevated roads in the City, while BBMP and BWSSB are struggling to complete the projects taken up under the scheme previously. As per the project implementation status of JnNURM in Karnataka, of the 38 projects, only 23 have been completed.

The State Government has utilised only 68 per cent of the funds released, as of September 2012.

Unfinished work

The pending projects primarily relate to unfinished underground drainage facilities and road restoration works in the erstwhile CMC areas, apart from remodelling of primary stormwater drains (SWDs) across the four valleys in Bangalore. Mysore has failed to complete even a single infrastructure project under JnNURM, despite utilising 58 per cent of the approved funds.

The projects taken up in Mysore include remodelling of water supply and distribution network, upgrading of Outer Ring Road and Heritage and Urban Renewal at Heritage Core.