Tepid demand for urban infra fund

Despite the Centre's continued push for higher capital expenditure on infrastructure and emphasis on urban development, the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) introduced in the 2023-24 Budget for 459 tier-2 and 580 tier-3 cities has seen tepid demand.

- Soumya Chatterjee

Of the ₹10,000 crore allocated under the scheme each year, over the two fiscals, less than ₹7,000 crore has been sanctioned, according to National Housing Bank (NHB) officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Under the scheme, states can avail of loans at a discounted rate of 1.5% from the prevailing bank rate for roadworks, water and sanitation, area planning and development projects, among others. Even among the ₹6,850 crore sanctioned as of December 15, close to half of it will be used to fund states' share of projects under central government's AMRUT 2.0 and SBM 2.0, an NHB official managing these funds said.

The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) allowed such projects under the scheme to address the low appetite from states, HT has learnt. It is to be noted that among the projects worth ₹6,850 crore, detailed project reports-based on which funds are sanctioned-for projects worth ₹1,050 crore are yet to be submitted. Even states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, which are usually at the forefront of absorbing funds from MoHUA, have been slow to this scheme.