Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh govt secured approval from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for 73 projects amounting to over Rs 713 crore during the financial year 2025-26, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday.Of these, 55 projects worth Rs 512 crore pertained to the public works department, while 18 projects worth Rs 201 crore were related to the jal shakti department.Chairing a meeting with the MLAs from Una, Hamirpur and Sirmaur districts to finalise MLA priority projects for the FY 2026-27, the CM directed the departments to ensure full utilisation of allocated funds and submit reimbursement claims to NABARD before March 15.He said efforts were underway to get additional MLA priority projects approved by NABARD by March-end.Sukhu said the discontinuation of the revenue deficit grant (RDG) by the central govt would cause a loss of nearly Rs 50,000 crore to the state for the next five years, and the state govt would have to take tough decisions to increase revenue while ensuring efficient financial management.The CM also criticised the Union Budget, saying that it ignored the middle class and farmers, and no concrete announcement was made regarding the expansion of the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur and Chandigarh-Baddi railway projects.He said the Union Budget was against the spirit of cooperative federalism. Instead of making small hill states like Himachal Pradesh self-reliant, it pushed them further into debt, claimed Sukhu.Deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri, industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, senior govt officers and deputy commissioners concerned were also present in the meeting.MSID:: 127987816 413 |
