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Bhubaneswar: Union Rural Development Ministry's pre-empowered committee has approved 881 road projects in Odisha amounting to Rs 1,493 crore and covering 2,982 kms under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
"The state can come up with further proposals for sanction by December. However, the execution capacity is a major concern. Hence, the state will have to establish a minimum of 20 more project implementation units (PIUs) for expediting the sanctioned road projects. The state is having a workload of about Rs 6,000 crore and at present it has engaged only 50 PIUs with a capacity of only Rs 3,125 crore," Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The formalities for sanctioning Rs 1,493 crore for the purpose will be completed in the next 30 days, Ramesh said.
The ministry had sanctioned Rs 2,445.75 crore for construction of roads measuring 5,189 km during 2012-13 and Rs 1,067 crore for construction of 1,184 km of roads in 2013-14.
Informing that the ministry had opened up habitations with a population of over 100 in 18 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts for connectivity under the PMGSY, Ramesh said the list of the most-affected blocks where PMGSY projects for such habitations have been taken up was shared with the state government.
Ramesh requested the Chief Minister to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) at the earliest so that they can be considered for clearance in the next couple of months.
Reminding Patnaik that Odisha has received substantial assistance from the Centre for construction of rural roads, the Union Minister said around 13,000 km of roads still remain to be sanctioned by his ministry, which is a challenge for both the state and the Centre.
