With a lot of stress building up on the State exchequer for funding the developmental projects, Department of Finance (DoF) has asked the departments concerned to utilise the funds and avail funding from Donor Agencies, which are funding the Externally Aided Projects (EAP).
ACS Finance R Balakrishnan, while reviewing the EAPs here on January 22 has asked the senior officials of various departments to place their claims for more funding after utilizing the Additional Central Assistance (ACA).
ACS Revenue Taradatt, Principal Secretary Water Resources, Pradeep Jena, Secretary Urban Development G Mathivathnan, Secretary Panchayati Raj DRK Singh and other senior officials were present during the review.
In recent years, much emphasis is given on the planed economic growth. The plan size of the State is showing an increasing trend. For sustained development and creation of infrastructure, the State has been availing external assistance from International Donor Agencies such as World Bank, DFID, IFAD, WFP, JBIC (JICA) and KFW etc.
These agencies are funding at least 14 EAP projects of the State in irrigation, road, agriculture, health, education, tribal empowerment and forestry sectors with a cost of `8,300 crore. Donor Agencies will be funding `5,900 crore for these projects.
These funds are routed through the Government of India and made available to the State through a budgetary mechanism. External Assistance plays a vital role in bridging the resource gap in the developmental programme of the State, said a senior official.
With the Planning Commission indicating the State Government of slashing around `3,500 Central Assistance, the State Government is finding it difficult to fund such projects from the State Plan, officials admitted.
Major projects including Odisha Disaster Recovery Project, Odisha State Road Project, Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project, Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Project, Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project, Odisha Rural livelihood Project, Odisha Health Sector Plan, Odisha Tribal Empowerment livelihood Programme, Odisha Girl’s Incentive Programme, Rengali Irrigation Project, Community Tank Project and several others are implemented through International Donor Agencies.
Normally, expenditure is first incurred by the State Government which is reimbursed by the donor on submission of claims.
Till date `3,050 crore has been received on these 14 EAPs, after claims were placed with the State Government in DoF.
It was advised to submit the claim with DoF, so that it can be reimbursed in time and there will be less pressure on the State exchequer, said sources.