Question : Proposals under CRIF from Bihar

(a) the details of the projects sanctioned under Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), State/UT-wise during the last three years along with the sanctioned amount and progress thereof;
(b) whether any proposals have been received by the Union Government from the Government of Bihar under CRIF in the current year;
(c) if so, the details along with the estimated cost thereof;
(d) the manner in which the projects are prioritised and approved along with the criteria adopted; and
(e) the details of the priority given to projects recommended by the Government of Bihar along with the reasons therefor and the timeline of approval and grant of funds by the Union Government?

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a) The Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs).
Apart from this the Ministry also allocates fund for State Governments / Union Territories (UTs) for development and maintenance of State Roads under the Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and Economic Importance & Interstate Connectivity (EI&ISC) schemes as per the provisions of the CRIF Act, 2000 amended by the Finance Act, 2019.
The State/ UT - wise details of projects sanctioned / finalized by the Ministry, under CRIF and EI&ISC schemes along with the sanctioned amounts during the last three years, are placed at Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.
The criteria inter alia provides that the period of completion of projects sanctioned under CRIF and EI&ISC Schemes shall not exceed 36 months for Hill States, North Eastern States and 24 months for other States unless permitted by the State Government/ UT.
As per the CRIF Act, 2000 amended through Finance Act, 2019, the Central Government is no longer responsible for monitoring of State road projects under these schemes and expenditure incurred thereon.
(b) to (e) The Ministry finalized the criteria for allocation of funds for development and maintenance of State Roads [under CRIF and EI&ISC Schemes] under the CRIF Act, 2000 in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and circulated the same to all State Governments and UTs in January, 2020.
This criteria inter-alia provides for:-
(i) Total cost of the schemes for approved to be limited to the bank of sanctions of generally three times of the annual accrual/ allocation, except for hill States and North-East States (where working season is limited) for which this is to be generally four times of the annual accrual/ allocation for the year for the State/ UT.
(ii) Finalization of list of projects by the Ministry in consultation with State Governments/ UTs.
(iii) Administrative Approval of projects (included under finalized lists) by concerned State Governments/ UTs.
(iv) Technical Approval and Financial Sanction (TA&FS) of projects administratively approved by State/ UT Public Works Departments (PWDs), Road Construction Departments/ Corporations, etc.
A total of 14 numbers of State road projects amounting to Rs.1,177 crore under CRIF scheme was submitted by State Government of Bihar to the Ministry during Financial Year 2021-22. Considering high Bank of Sanctioned works amounting to about Rs.1,511 crore as on 01.04.2021 for the State of Bihar, the proposals of the State Government of Bihar could not be favorably considered for finalization.