Centre Approves Rs 4528 Cr For Odisha As Special Assistance For Capital Investment

New Delhi, June 26: The Centre on Monday approved capital investment proposal of Rs 4528 Cr for Odisha. It also cleared investment proposals for 15 other states under the ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24’ scheme.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said that the investments covers diverse projects spanning health, education, irrigation, water supply, powers, roads, railways and bridges. The scheme entails interest free loans for 50-year interest.

The scheme has eight parts. Part-I is the largest with allocation of Rs. 1 lakh crore.  This amount has been allocated amongst States in proportion to their share of central taxes and duties as per the award of the 15^th Finance Commission.

In Part–II of the scheme, an amount of Rs. 3,000 crore has been set aside  for providing incentives to States for scrapping of State Government vehicles and ambulances, waiver of liabilities on old vehicles, providing tax concessions to individuals for scrapping of old vehicles and setting up of automated vehicle testing facilities.

Part–III & IV of the scheme aim at providing incentives to States for reforms in Urban Planning and Urban Finance. An amount of Rs. 15,000 crore is earmarked for Urban Planning Reforms, while additional Rs. 5,000 crore is for incentivising the States for making Urban Local Bodies creditworthy and improving their finances.