The state government expects to spend Rs 864.65 crore on 13 externally aided projects (EAPs) in 2012-13 with funding from international donor agencies like World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and UK-based Department of International Development (DFID).
Of the total outlay of Rs 864.65 crore, external sources will contribute Rs 823 crore with state counterpart funding being Rs 41.65 crore. Ten out of 13 projects are ongoing projects while the remaining three projects are on the pipeline. These projects are implemented in sectors like health, agriculture, housing & urban development, irrigation, forestry and environment, roads, welfare of ST & SC and livelihood projects.
In rural development, the state panchayati raj department is executing Targeted Rural Initiatives for Poverty Termination and Infrastructure (TRIPTI) at an estimated cost of Rs 400 crore funded by the World Bank. An expenditure of Rs 16.47 crore was incurred in 2011-12 up to January 2012 with the outlay for 2012-13 pegged at Rs 100 crore. TRIPTI is aimed at creation of opportunities to reduce poverty by way of providing better education, health, roads, telecommunication, water & sanitation, renewable energy and economic base.
Similarly, in transport sector, Rs 105 crore has been set aside for Odisha State Roads Project for the current fiscal, also financed by the World Bank. The objective of the project is to improve the traffic movement, provide increased accessibility to health services and employment opportunities and make the state government more responsive and efficient in addressing road transport infrastructure needs through institutional strengthening.
ADB is currently funding one EAP in the state- Odisha Integrated Irrigated Agriculture & Water Management Project with the project cost being Rs 1,084.19 crore. An outlay of Rs 150 crore has been pegged for this project for 2012-13. DFID is funding three such projects- Odisha Modernising Economy, Governance & Administration (OMEGA), Odisha Health Sector Plan and Odisha Tribal Empowerment & Livelihood Programme (OTELP). EAPs contribute to bridging the resource gap for development programmes of the state. Such projects also help improve systems and institutional arrangements as most EAPs have technical assistance component that enables the state to access larger pool of knowledge and best practices from international development community.
