J&K approves 282 languishing projects

Languishing for years for want of financial support, the Jammu and Kashmir government has approved 282 projects, involving investment of Rs 548crore, officials said Wednesday.

These projects were approved at the fourth meeting of the high-powered committee (HPC) constituted for approval of languishing projects for funding through Jammu and KashmirInfrastructure Development Financial Corporation (JKIDFC).

Principal Secretary Finance Navin Choudhary said HPC in meeting Tuesday cleared 282 languishing projects, involving an investment of Rs 548 crore.

In its fourth meetings held so far in the past, HPC has cleared 1,296 such projects in various key sectors, involving a cumulative investment of Rs 2,720.87 crore through JKIDFC.

The HPC held detailed deliberations on each project vis-a-vis their present status, financial involvement and time-line for completion, the officials said.

The projects cleared in HPC meeting included 24 of Housing & Urban Development Department costing Rs 78.77 crore, 27 projects of Health & Medical Education (Rs 47.29 crore), 142 of PHE Department (Rs 280.61 crore), 64projects of PWD (Rs 118.50 crore), 19 of SchoolEducation (Rs 3.62 crore), 3 projects of TourismDepartment (Rs 14.14 crore), 1 project ofTransport Department (Rs 4.62 crore) and 2 projects of Power Development Department (Rs 1.37 crore).

Speaking at the meeting Choudhary, who is also the founding Chairman-cum-Managing Director of JKIDFC, said the approved projects would be funded for the time-bound completion through Jammu and Kashmir Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation.

He called upon the executing agencies to ensure photograph of each project before the start of work and after completion, and upload the same on the official websites for the information of all stakeholders.

Choudhary also called upon the engineers to ensure quality of works strictly as per the approved specifications of the projects.