Punjab to invest Rs 720 crore in urban infrastructure under AMRUT

NEW DELHI: Punjab government will invest Rs 720 crore in improving basic urban infrastructure in 16 cities under action plans for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for 2015-16.

Followed by Punjab, Uttarakhand government has also decided to spend Rs 267 crore for better urban infrastructure of 6 cities under AMRUT.

Centre will provide an assistance of Rs 319 crore to Punjab while Uttarakhand will get Rs 134 crore under the State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) approved today by an inter-ministerial Apex Committee chaired by Urban Development Secretary Madhusudhan Prasad.

Under the SAAP for 2015-16, Punjab will invest Rs 365 crore in 46 water supply-related projects, Rs 288 crore in 37 sewerage and septage management projects, Rs 56 crore for improving urban transport in Amritsar and Rs 12 crore for providing open parks and green spaces in 16 mission cities.

In Punjab, coverage of households in 16 mission cities with water supply connections ranged from 28 per cent in Khanna to 93 per cent in Mohali. Water supply is in the range of 67 litres per capita per day in Khanna to 240 liters in Jalandhar as against the norm of 135 lpcd for urban areas.

Punjab has reported the best infrastructure in the country in respect of sewerage treatment with availability of 100 per cent sewerage treatment capacity in 12 of the 16 mission cities.

Only Amritsar, Barnala, Batala and Firozpur are lagging behind in this regard, for which projects have been proposed under SAAP for 2015-16.