CCEA approves water and sanitation project for low-Income States

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has given its nod for the implementation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project for Low Income States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh with World Bank assistance.

The project, commencing this financial year, will be completed in 2019-20. According to officials, the project will be implemented in seven districts of Assam --Hailakandi, Kamrup, Jorhat, Morigaon, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur and Sibsagar-- with estimated population coverage of about 14 lakh.

Ten districts of Bihar--Patna, Begusarai, Munger, Muzzafarpur, West Champaran, Nalanda, Nawada, Saran, Purnia and Banka with estimated population coverage of about 24 lakh will get the benefit of the programme.

In Jharkhand, six districts --East Singhbum, Dumka, Garwah, Palamu, Saraikela-Kharsawan and Khunti—with estimated population coverage of about 12 lakh have been selected for implementing the programme. 
Ten Eastern UP districts --Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Basti, Ghazipur, Ballia, Allahabad, Sonbhadra, Bahraich and Gonda—with estimated population coverage of about 28 lakh will also be benefited, according to the government.

The project is expected to directly benefit a rural population of about 78 lakh persons including 44 lakh Scheduled Castes and more than 8 lakh Scheduled Tribes. The total project cost of Rs 6,000 crore will be financed through Government of India (from the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) allocation 33 percent), state government (fund sharing as per NRDWP guidelines 16 percent), beneficiary contribution (1 percent) and external financing (World Bank-IDA funds 50 percent).

Government of India will repay the amount of USD 500 million extended as credit by the World Bank over a period of 25 years with 1.25 percent interest rate.

According to the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, the project would improve sanitation conditions in the targeted districts by adopting the convergence approach with the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).

Besides, the CCEA has cleared the proposal for establishment of 58 new medical colleges by upgradation of existing district hospitals in deficient states. There will be 100 MBBS seats in each medical college. This will result in an increase of about 5800 MBBS seats in medical eduaction.

The approval for amendments in the Mega Power Policy 2009 for provisional Mega Power projects has also been given by the Cabinet. The objective is to increase power availability to boost overall growth of the country and also ensure that consumers are reasonably charged for electricity supplied.

The CCEA has approved the construction of 220kV Transmission System from Alusteng of Srinagar to Leh and interconnection system for Drass, Kargil, Khalsti and Leh substations in Jammu and Kashmir. The transmission project will provide grid connectivity and reliable power supply to the strategically important Ladakh region.