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National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 205.65 crore to the Odisha government under the 19th tranche of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
With this, the cumulative sanction under RIDF for the state has gone up to Rs 580 crore for 2013-14. The normative allocation for sanction of infrastructure projects under RIDF has been pegged at Rs 1,000 crore for this fiscal by Nabard.
The latest sanction under RIDF includes funding for 14 road and four bridge projects involving assistance of Rs 117.57 crore, 13 irrigation and flood protection projects to be taken up at a cost of Rs 71.91 crore and 137 lift irrigation projects under Biju Krushak Vikas Yojana involving assistance of Rs 16.17 crore.
The projects envisage to create additional road length of 112.65 km, bridge length of 1718.55 metres and also create an irrigation potential of 24,139 hectare (ha). Since its inception, Nabard has sanctioned Rs 8,755 crore to the Odisha government for implementing 174,304 projects under various sectors- irrigation, rural connectivity, animal husbandry, infrastructure and drinking water supply system.
RIDF was created to fund completion of ongoing projects and create new projects in the new areas. It has become an important source for funding various projects across the state catering to the critical infrastructure needs in the rural areas.
