New Delhi: The Government of India has allocated Rs 374 crore for Odisha under the scheme Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for 2021-22.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has informed this to BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, in a reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.
“The Union Government has allocated a sum of Rs 374 crore to the State of Odisha under the scheme ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for 2021-22’. The State Government of Odisha is yet to submit a proposal under the scheme for 2021-22,” the Finance Minister said in her reply.
On October 12 last year, Sitharaman had announced the scheme as a part of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package. An amount of Rs12,000 crore was earmarked for the scheme for the financial year 2020-21, and a sum of Rs11,830.29 crore was released to the States. This helped to sustain state level capital expenditure in the pandemic year, sources said.
For the current financial year (2021-22), the Ministry of Finance has decided to provide an additional amount of upto Rs 15,000 crore to States as interest free 50 year loan for spending on capital projects.
Out of the total allocation made under the scheme, Rs 2,600 crore has been earmarked for the North-East and Hill States. An amount of Rs 7,400 crore is earmarked for other States.
This amount has been allocated amongst these States in proportion to their share of central taxes as per the award of the 15th Finance Commission for the year 2021-22, the source said.
Besides, the Ministry has also provided incentives to States for monetization/recycling of infrastructure assets and disinvestment of the State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs). An amount of Rs 5,000 crore is allocated for this part of the scheme, under which States will receive interest free 50 years loan ranging from 33 per cent to 100 per cent of the amount realised by them, through assets monetization, listing and disinvestment.