Government allocates Rs.12,000 crore for rural roads

October 5th, 2009 HYDERABAD - The worst floods in over a century have left a trail of destruction estimated at Rs.12,225 crore, the Andhra Pradesh government has said while asking New Delhi for immediate assistance of Rs.6,000 crore. In a memorandum to United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Chief Minister K.

September 22nd, 2009 SHIMLA - The central government has sanctioned projects worth Rs.243.43 crore that would help strengthen the rural road network in Himachal Pradesh, an official statement said Tuesday. "In order to strengthen the rural road network in the state, the central government has approved Rs.243.43 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana," Himachal Pradesh Public Works Minister Thakur Gulab Singh said in the statement.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will have over 146,000 km of new roads connecting thousands of villages across the country by 2010-11, Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi said Tuesday.

July 27th, 2009 SHIMLA - The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs.135 crore to the Himachal Pradesh government for developing rural infrastructure, an official statement said Monday. "Nabard has sanctioned Rs.135 crore to Himachal Pradesh for the year 2009-10.

July 13th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Haryana government Monday approved allocation of Rs.900 crore (Rs.9 billion) for metro rail-link project in the IT city of Gurgaon. The metro-link will connect Delhi's Sikanderpur station to national highway no.8 in Gurgaon.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Highlights of the union budget for the current fiscal presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha Monday: - Agriculture debt waiver extended by six months - Outlay for national rural health mission increased by Rs.2,057 crore from the Rs.12,070 crore provided in the interim budget - Allocation towards National Rural Employment Guarantee Act increased by Rs.39,100 crore - Allocation for Bharat Nirman scheme increased by 45 percent - Rs.20 billion for rural housing - Rural electrification scheme to get Rs.7,000 crore more - Tax department to work on early introduction of Saral 2 forms - Stimulus for print media extended from June 13 to Dec 31 - Rs.1,000 crore to accelerate irrigation projects - Agriculture development fund increased from Rs.2.87 lakh crore to Rs.3.25 lakh crore - Market development assistance scheme for exporters increased by 148 percent to Rs.124 crore - Pre-shipment interest subvention set at 2 percent for textile exporters - Will make sufficient funds for infrastructure development - Allocation for national highways development stepped up by 23 percent - Allocation for urban poor schemes to be raised to Rs.39,730 crore in 2009-10 - LNG infrastructure to be expanded - Allocation for Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission raised by 87 percent to Rs.12,887 crore

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocated a whopping Rs.39,100 crore for the Congress-led government's flagship scheme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), a hefty 144 percent hike over the previous budget estimates. Reiterating the government's commitment to the scheme that promises 100 days of employment to rural youth, the finance minister said in his budget speech Monday that 4.47 crore households were covered under NREGA last year as against 3.39 crore earlier.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In keeping with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's inclusive growth mantra, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday announced a slew of schemes for the aam aadmi (common man). The major measures announced in his union budget for 2009-10 are: - Allocation towards National Rural Employment Guarantee Act increased by Rs.39,100 crore - Agriculture debt waiver extended by six months - Outlay for national rural health mission increased by Rs.2,057 crore from the Rs.12,070 crore provided in the interim budget - Allocation for Bharat Nirman scheme increased by 45 percent - Rs.20,000 crore for rural housing - Rural electrification scheme to get Rs.7,000 crore more - Agriculture development fund increased from Rs.2.87 lakh crore to Rs.3.25 lakh crore - Allocation for urban poor schemes to be raised to Rs.39,730 crore - LNG infrastructure to be expanded - National Housing Bank to get Rs.2,000 crore for rural housing funds - Higher education outlay increased by Rs.2,000 crore over interim budget - Income tax exemption limit for senior citizens increased by Rs.15,000, for women and others by 10,000 each - Duties on life saving drugs reduced - Allocation for the minority affairs ministry raised to Rs.1,740 crore - Banking services in under-banked areas to be increased, scheme allocated Rs.100 crore - Rs.1,000 crore to accelerate irrigation projects - Allocation for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission raised by 87 percent to Rs.12,887 crore

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday hiked the allocation for its flagship rural job scheme by 144 percent to Rs.39,000 crores. "I am allocating Rs.39,000 crores for NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

July 2nd, 2009 KOLKATA - State-owned West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is planning to raise Rs.5,000 crore in the next three years to fund rural and urban electrification, a top company official said here Thursday. "Around Rs.3,000 crore will be invested for rural electrification, Rs.1,000 crore for enhancement of urban facilities and another Rs.1,000 crore for customer service automation," Malay K.

June 6th, 2009 PATNA - The Bihar government has declared 73 construction companies, including several prestigious firms engaged in road construction in the state, as "defaulters" after they failed to complete projects on time, officials said Saturday. These companies would not be allowed to participate in any tenders for road construction, the officials said, adding Road Construction Minister Prem Kumar was unhappy with the companies for the delay in completing roads within the deadline set by the government and ignoring warnings to speed up the construction of roads.

March 1st, 2009 SHIMLA - The Planning Commission has allocated Rs.27 billion for Himachal Pradesh for 2009-10, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said Saturday. 'The annual plan for Himachal Pradesh has been fixed at Rs.2,700 crore (Rs.27 billion), which is Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion) more than last year,' Dhumal told reporters.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The corpus of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) was increased to Rs.140 billion (Rs.14,000 crore) in 2008-09 from Rs.55 billion in 2003-04, acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Monday. Presenting the interim budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha, Mukherjee said a separate window for rural roads was created under the RIDF with a corpus of Rs.40 billion for each of the last three years.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has allocated Rs.1.31 trillion (Rs.131,317 crore) for its flagship programmes in the coming fiscal. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the interim budget for 2009-10 to parliament Monday, said Rs.301 billion (Rs.30,100 crore) would be made available to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for the next financial year.

February 12th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Infrastructure and minority welfare grabbed the lion's share of allocation in the second budget of the 20-month-old Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, presented by Finance Minister Lalji Verma in the state assembly here Friday. Top priority was been accorded to the development of infrastructure in the Rs.1,335.96 billion (Rs.133,596-crore) budget, with the allocation for the sector taking a 19 percent jump over that allocated in the previous year.