PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the union minister of Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar in New Delhi on Monday and requested for special central assistance for the development of hydropower projects and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme in Uttarakhand.
In the meeting, he requested for a viability gap fund of Rs 4,000 crore for construction of hydro power projects in Kumaon region and in the upper Yamuna area. He also requested for undergrounding of the electricity cables in the Rishikesh- Haridwar area.
Dhami also requested for a viability gap fund of Rs 3,800 crore for the construction of pump storage projects in the remote areas of the State. He said that these projects will help in augmenting the power production capacity and give a boost to development.
The CM also requested for 100 per cent grant for the two projects of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (PTCUL) under the power system development fund. The total cost of both these projects is Rs 1007.82 crores.
In the meeting the CM drew attention of the union minister on the practical problems and challenges in the construction of housing units for the economically weaker sections (EWS) under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) under the present guidelines.
He told Khattar that the State government is successfully operating projects under the private partnership model but the system of one time central grant is affecting the cash flow of these projects. The CM requested that the formula of 40:40:20 of phased assistance currently set in place for the projects on the government land should also be implemented in the projects involving private land.
He said that banks, non-banking financial institutes and other financial institutes should be given clear directions in this regard so that the beneficiaries of EWS category get the benefit of easy loan facility.
In the meeting the CM requested that the Modipuram- Meerut regional rapid transit system (RRTS) should be extended to Haridwar. This will not only help in solving the problem of transportation but will give a boost to urbanisation and wholesome economic development.
