JNNURM-II to be thrice in size than earlier avatar

July 29, 2013

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Dipak Kumar Dash, TNN Jun 16, 2013

NEW DELHI: The second phase of the UPA’s flagship programme for urban infrastructure development, JNNURM, would be thrice the size of the last phase. The proposed JNNURM-II, which would be for 10 years including the current fiscal, would be pegged at Rs 1.5 lakh crore, sources in the urban development ministry said.

In a move that would may silence the chief ministers, who have been complaining of discrimination by the Centre in allocation of funds to non-UPA-ruled states, the programme’s second phase would have a greater say for the state governments in both planning and selection of projects. They would have more freedom in choosing cities, cluster of cities and urban growth centres to avail the Central assistance. Sources added that the governments would also submit their comprehensive plan of urbanization in the state.

For the current financial year, Rs 15,000 crore budgetary allocations have been made as a stop-gap arrangement to ensure that the ongoing projects don’t stop midway. JNNURM-II is likely to be launched after the next parliamentary election results are out.

“But the government wants to clear the process so that the programme continues no matter what the result would be. The criteria of selection and fund allocation are yet to be finalized,” said a ministry official. There are reports that performance of states in the first phase of JNNURM could be one of the qualifying norms for selection.

In addition, JNNURM-II’s ambit would be extended to smaller cities and towns. Last year UD minister Kamal Nath had also stated this in Parliament. “Nobody has given attention to town and cities with population of 10,000 to 50,000,” he said replying to the debate on demand for grants for 2012-13.

In the first phase of the mission, the cities with a population of one million or more were included, he said, adding, in the second, the government is planning to include cities with a population five lakh and above.

Source – http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/