Question : Financial Assistance under Central Road Fund

(a) whether the Union Government is providing financial assistance under Central Road Fund (CRF)/ Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) to improve the quality of roads in the country;

(b) if so, the details of such assistance given to Uttar Pradesh during the last three years;

(c) whether the amount was released as per the requests made by the State Government and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether the Union Government has received any request/proposal from Uttar Pradesh for the upgradation of roads and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Union Government thereon?

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) With the amendment to the Central Road Fund (CRF) Act, 2000 by the Finance Act, 2018 the earlier Act has been replaced by the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) Act, 2000. The CRIF is earmarked for various infrastructure sectors such as Transport (Road and Bridges, Ports, Shipyards, Inland Waterways, Airports, Railways, Urban Public Transport), Energy, Water and Sanitation, Communication, Social and Commercial Infrastructure. The funds for various infrastructure sectors are to be earmarked as per the provisions of the above-mentioned Act further amended by the Finance Act, 2019. As per amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 on 26.07.2018, the subject matter pertains to the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs). The Ministry also allocates funds for State Roads under CRF/ CRIF and Economic Importance & Inter State Connectivity (EI&ISC) schemes as per the provisions of the CRF/ CRIF Act, 2000 amended by the Finance Act from time to time.

(b) The details of funds accrued/ allocated and the funds released/ expenditure incurred under CRF/ CRIF and EI&ISC schemes for the State of Uttar Pradesh during last three years is as follows:-
Amount Rs. in crore
Scheme 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Accural / Allocation Release / Expenditure Accural / Allocation Release / Expenditure Accural / Allocation Release / Expenditure
CRF/ CRIF 569.23 219.71 552.01 890.24* 578.63 655.91*
EI&ISC 5.00 1.04 115.00 103.29 90.00 93.78#
* Funds have been released more than the accrual of the State from the unspent balance of previous years’ allocation of the State.
# Expenditures were made on purely “First-Come-First-Serve” basis for all States/ UTs subject to the condition that, the total overall expenditure does not exceed the total allocation made during that Financial Year for all the States/ UTs. Therefore, Expenditure incurred for the State was more than the allocation made for that State during that Financial Year.

(c) For works taken up under CRF/ CRIF scheme, one third of annual accrual/ allocation of the State/ UT, including for the State of Uttar Pradesh, is released for utilization against sanctioned works and this amount is maintained as a reserve by replenishing the expenditure from subsequent releases; subsequent releases of funds are made to the States/ UTs based on submission of Utilization Certificates (UCs) of previous releases subject to the condition that the total amount released for any State/ UT during the year does not exceed the total allocation for that year in respect of that State/ UT and the amount of unspent balance of previous years, if any.

The funds for State Roads under EI & ISC Schemes are allocated keeping in view the committed liabilities, progress of works, inter-se priority, etc.

(d) The proposals not considered for sanction during a financial year, including such proposals received from the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, are treated as unapproved and not considered as pending. No proposals for State roads have been received from the State Government of Uttar Pradesh under CRIF schemes during the current financial year 2019-20.
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