The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance (Government of India) has approved capital investment proposals of Rs. 56,415 crore in 16 States in the current financial year.
Key points
- Approval has been given under the scheme entitled ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24’.
- Capital investment projects in diverse sectors have been approved including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges and railways.
- Funds for meeting the State share of Jal Jeevan Mission and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have also been provided to the States under this scheme to enhance pace of the projects in these sectors.
- The scheme ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24′ was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24.
- Under the scheme, special assistance is being provided to the State Governments in the form of 50-year interest free loan up to an overall sum of Rs. 1.3 lakh crore during the financial year 2023-24.
- The scheme has eight parts, Part-I being the largest with allocation of Rs. 1 lakh crore. This amount has been allocated amongst States in proportion to their share of central taxes & duties as per the award of the 15th Finance Commission.
- In Part–II of the scheme, an amount of Rs. 3,000 crore has been set aside for providing incentives to States for scrapping of State Government vehicles and ambulances etc.
- Part–III & IV of the scheme aim at providing incentives to States for reforms in Urban Planning and Urban Finance.
- Part-V of the scheme aims at increasing the housing stock for the police personnel and their families within the police stations in urban areas. Part-VI of the scheme is related to promote the concept of “One District, One Product (ODOP)” through construction of Unity Mall in each State.
- Part-VII of the Scheme is for providing financial assistance to States for setting up libraries with digital infrastructure at Panchayat and Ward level for children and adolescents.
- A similar scheme entitled ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for 2022-23′ was also executed by the Ministry of Finance in the last financial year.
