Complete infrastructure projects in time: Ghadei

BHUBANESWAR: Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei has asked the departments concerned to complete the infrastructure projects funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under the rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF) as scheduled.Ghadei on Wednesday reviewed the progress of projects under various phases of the RIDF at the Secretariat here. He said that the high-power committee has sanctioned 16,213 projects worth ` 3,849.18 crore under RIDF-17. The State Government had made a budget provision of ` 1,081.16 crore for the projects, he added.NABARD has set a target to sanction projects worth ` 740 crore in 2011-12. He said that NABARD had so far sanctioned projects of ` 487.51 crore this year and released ` 98 crore under RIDF.The minister said that the projects under RIDF-11 will be completed by December while projects under RIDF-12 to 14 will be completed by March, 2012.Stating that NABARD has set a target to provide ` 1,060 crore to the State under RIDF in 2011-12, Ghadei asked the departments to expedite project works and submit new projects for sanction of more funds.  He announced that, if required, more funds for the RIDF projects will be provided in the supplementary budget.