The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned Rs 246 crore for development projects in seven backward districts of Bundelkhand and the Purvanchal region in Uttar Pradesh. The financial aid will be utilised for irrigation and rural road projects in the current financial year.
Nabard chief general manager D P Mishra said Rs 214 crore of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) credit would be utilised for four irrigation projects in Lalitpur, Mahoba and Jhansi districts of Bundelkhand. “Besides, Rs 32 crore has been sanctioned for 88 rural road projects in Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Mau, Ghazipur and Gonda districts of eastern UP,” he added.
While the irrigation projects will restore cultivation in 110,000 hectare, the rural road projects will lead to the construction of 188-kilometre roads. These projects will generate about 3.73 million man-days of non-recurring and 11,000 recurring employment a year.
So far, Nabard has sanctioned over 13,800 projects with cumulative financial assistance of Rs 7,630 crore to Uttar Pradesh since inception of RIDF in 1995-96, Mishra said.
During the last financial year, Nabard had extended financial assistance of Rs 970 crore to Uttar Pradesh under RIDF as against the total allocation of Rs 1,200 crore.
