State to take up 520 zero-based investment projects in 2010-11

As many as 520 zero-based investment projects have been identified for completion in the current financial year. Out of these 520 projects, 444 are new projects while the remaining 76 are spilled over projects of 2009-10. Together, these projects would be commissioned at a cost of Rs 159.63 crore.

The budgetary allocation of Rs 159.63 crore in 2010-11 for these zero-based investment projects, is a growth of66.14 per cent over the allocation of Rs 96.08 crore in the previous fiscal.

Of the 444 new zero-based investment projects identified for completion in this fiscal, the most number of projects (353) are of rural development department, followed by works at 37, water resources at 28, housing & urban development at 14, industries at 8 and tourism at 4. The cost of 420 projects is in the range of Rs 1-4 crore while the balance 100 projects involve an expenditure of over Rs 4 crore.

To ensure timely completion of the identified projects, the concerned departments of the state government have been allowed to make necessary provision in the Budget and in case of necessity, they have been allowed reallocation of funds within the overall budgetary allocation made for the department.

The identification of such projects is independently done by the concerned departments and the projects are prioritized keeping in view the feasibility and availability of funds.

The screening of the projects is made through strict technical, financial and economic appraisal in order to achieve maximum social impact and optimum utilization of the limited resources available.