Around 81 cities in five states will invest Rs 5,748 crore to enhance basic infrastructure, including water supply and sewerage connections, under the AMRUT action plan for 2015- 16. Central assistance will be provided to an extent of Rs 2,440 crore while the rest would be contributed by five state governments (Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram) and urban local bodies.
The government launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) in July to ensure coverage of all urban households with water supply and sewerage connections. Under the approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP), Tamil Nadu with 27 AMRUT cities will invest Rs 3,249 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh (32 cities) Rs 1,656 crore, Odisha (9 cities) Rs 456 crore, Jharkhand (7 cities) Rs 313 crore and Mizoram will invest Rs 73 crore in Aizawl. Almost half of the urban households in these 81 cities do not have access to water supply and sewerage connections.
Rs 4,290 crore of the total approved outlay would go into providing household water supply connections and enhancing water supply in 53 cities; Rs 1,133 crore would be spent on providing sewerage connections in 41 cities; Rs 92 crore would be invested in storm water drainage projects in 14 cities; Rs 80 crore for promoting non-motorised public transport in 22 and Rs 113 crore providing parks and green spaces in 76 mission cities. The Ministry had approved SAAP for 2015-16 with a total project investment of Rs 2,786 crore for Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, which account for 89 cities.
