Jairam Ramesh said he will make changes in policy to accommodate state’s road needs.
The state government has urged the Centre to grant Rs4,500crore to upgrade 12,550km roads across Maharashtra under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yogna (PMGSY).
Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh assured the state that he would make changes in the policies to accommodate the financial demands of Maharashtra.
"In the existing scheme for the entire country, the state was granted Rs1,082crore to link the access roads across Maharashtra," said Jayant Patil, state rural development minister.
Ramesh told the state that the Centre would look into their proposal to make laws flexible to allocate funds for the upgradation of existing roads in the state.
"You can evolve a formula where state will spend 20% and the Centre 80% for funds allocated for road upgradation projects," Patil told Ramesh.
Under the PMGSY, funds would be sanctioned on a priority basis to states for laying out at least one access road to every village. The aim is to establish 100% road connectivity in every village.
Ever since the PMGSY was launched, Maharashtra was among the few developed states which could not avail maximum funds from the Centre as it was way ahead of other states in road connectivity.
"While states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu availed funds of Rs4,000crore, the state barely managed to get Rs300crore under the scheme as it had submitted a report citing 100% road connectivity in villages across Maharashtra," chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had said.
After taking charge of rural development, Ramesh slammed Maharashtra for underutilisation of funds.
"One of the reasons for better road in other states is that they are investing heavily in quality construction using the PMGSY. Whereas we completed the required parameters almost a decade ago but could not get central assistance," said Chavan.
Around 12 states will get funds from the Centre for road upgradation. The rest including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa will continue to avail the funds under PMGSY.
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