Bhubaneswar: The Centre has allocated special assistance of Rs 374 crore for the Odisha government for capital expenditure for the financial year 2021-22 as a part of the ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ package. This information was given by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha while while replying to a question of BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab.
“The Union government has allocated a sum of Rs 374 crore to Odisha under the scheme ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for 2021-22’. However, the Odisha government is yet to submit a proposal under the scheme for 2021-22,” Sitharaman said.
In October last year, the finance minister had announced the scheme as a part of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package. An amount of Rs12,000 crore was earmarked for the scheme for the financial year 2020-21, and a sum of Rs11,830.29 crore was released to the States. This helped to sustain state level capital expenditure in the pandemic year, sources said.
For the current financial year (2021-22), the Ministry of Finance has decided to provide an additional amount of up to Rs 15,000 crore to States as interest free loan 50 years for spending on capital projects.
Out of the total allocation made under the scheme, Rs 2,600 crore has been earmarked for the North Eastern and Hill States. An amount of Rs 7,400 crore is earmarked for other States.
This amount has been allocated amongst these States in proportion to their share of central taxes as per the award of the 15th Finance Commission for the year 2021-22, the source said.
Besides, the Centre has also provided incentives to states for monetisation/recycling of infrastructure assets and disinvestment of the State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs).
An amount of Rs 5,000 crore is allocated for this as part of the scheme, under which States will receive interest free 50 years loan ranging from 33 per cent to 100 per cent of the amount realised by them, through assets monetization, listing and disinvestment, the source said.
