CHENNAI: New urban development projects proposed by the Tamil Nadu government are likely to take a few more months to get the Centre’s clearance as the Union government is planning to replace the UPA’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with a new flagship programme.
Official sources told Express that the Centre is in the process of framing new guidelines under the National Urban Renewal Mission.
The announcement of the new guidelines could happen in October, following which the Centre will take a call on the schemes. Till then, various Tamil Nadu projects, including drinking water, transportation, housing and sewerage schemes will have to wait.
In order to be on top of the queue for clearance by the Centre once the new rules are in place, many departments like the Tamil Nadu Housing Board and the Municipal Administration and Water Supply department are fine-tuning their proposed projects for submission before October. As many as 124 such schemes are expected to be submitted by October, sources said.
While the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is up for revamp, schemes under Rajiv Awas Yojana have already been renamed as ‘Housing for All’. Further changes are on the anvil.
A close look at JNNURM projects nationwide suggests that most of them faced roadblocks due to delay in land acquisition, public agitation, change of site, encroachments, inability to obtain statutory clearances from defence, railway and environment and forest ministries, besides court cases. Out of the 1,339 projects sanctioned in the seven-year period since JNNURM came into being, an estimated 50 per cent alone got completed.