BHUBANESWAR: THE State Government will borrow Rs 4,860 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to fund eight irrigation projects that remained incomplete for decades. The eight irrigation projects sanctioned under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) have been languishing for want of adequate financial resources.
It has been estimated to cost about Rs 14,000 crore to complete the projects. These projects namely Lower Indra, Upper Indravati (Extension), Subarnarekha, Kanpur, Anandpur barrage, Ret Rukura and Telengiri have been prioritised as part of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The Government will borrow Rs 4,860 crore from Nabard under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) to meet the State share in the projects. The balance fund for the projects will be the Central share in shape of grant, official sources said. The State Government signed an agreement with Nabard here on Friday to avail the financial assistance.
It will sign another agreement with the Ministry of Water Resources and National Water Development Agency (NWDA), a society under the Ministry. The projects were recommended by NWDA for Nabard funding. Loan assistance under LTIF will be for a period of upto 15 years with a moratorium period of three years. The State Government will repay the loan in annual instalments and interest at quarterly intervals. As per the agreement, the State Government will complete these projects by 2018-19.
The Subarnarekha irrigation project which started in 1996-97 was scheduled to finish by 2001-02 with an estimated project cost of Rs 1,013 crore. Even as the cost has escalated by over five times of the initial amount, the project has not been completed after two decades of its launching. Similarly, the Lower Indra irrigation project was started in 1999-2000 with an estimated cost of Rs 211 crore.
The project was scheduled to be completed by 2013-14. The revised project cost has gone by over eight times of the original amount. The Ret irrigation project with an initial cost of Rs 86 crore has cost overrun by more than five times while the Rukura plan has also escalated significantly from its original cost of Rs 155 crore. The Anandpur barrage with an estimated cost of Rs 482 crore was slated to be operational by 2009-10.