Deep Sharma
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir’s latest NABARD-funded infrastructure portfolio has grown to 908 projects involving ₹4,303.08 crore, but only 157 projects had been completed when their progress was reviewed by the government, leaving 751 works under execution.
The figures emerged during a recent review of projects sanctioned under NABARD’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) Tranches XXVIII to XXXI, putting the focus on the pace at which the UT is converting sanctioned assistance into completed infrastructure.
Against the total project assistance of ₹4,303.08 crore, NABARD had disbursed ₹2,301.48 crore, leaving a gap of about ₹2,001.60 crore between the sanctioned assistance and the amount disbursed.
With just 157 of 908 projects completed, nearly 83 per cent of the portfolio remained under execution at the time of the review.
The Public Works Department accounts for the bulk of the current portfolio, with 660 projects involving ₹2,987.25 crore.
This means PWD alone accounts for nearly 73 per cent of the total projects and around 69 per cent of the total project cost under the four tranches reviewed.
The remaining portfolio is spread across several departments. Agriculture Production Department has 110 projects worth ₹414.27 crore, while Animal/Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries account for 63 projects worth ₹190.14 crore.
Jal Shakti has 36 projects involving ₹491.93 crore, Horticulture has 19 projects worth ₹104.52 crore, and Health and Medical Education has 20 projects involving ₹114.97 crore.
The latest numbers assume significance against the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s performance audit of the earlier NABARD-RIDF cycle covering April 2018 to March 2023.
The CAG had found that of 263 projects due for completion under the earlier portfolio, only 32, or 12 per cent, had been completed by March 2023, while 231 projects were either incomplete or had not started.
The audit had also found that against ₹844.17 crore released during 2018-23, only ₹382.50 crore, or 45 per cent, was spent, leaving ₹461.67 crore unutilised.
The latest government review indicates that the issue of moving projects from sanction and funding to actual completion remains significant, although the current figures relate to newer RIDF tranches and should not be treated as a continuation of the CAG’s audited project list.
The administration has now placed particular emphasis on project readiness and monitoring. Departments have been asked to maintain a shelf of projects that are complete in all respects, including Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction, so that projects can move more quickly after their submission to NABARD.
The review also called for closer monitoring of physical and financial progress, regular field inspections and stronger coordination between departments and district administrations.
The CAG audit had identified precisely these areas as weaknesses in the earlier cycle. It found that project selection was not adequately supported by baseline data and planning frameworks and that mandatory prerequisites, including encumbrance-free land, forest and statutory clearances, viable water sources and technically sound Detailed Project Reports, were not always ensured before projects were sanctioned or executed.
These shortcomings contributed to stalled, abandoned and foreclosed projects, according to the audit.
Financial management was another major concern.
During 2018-19 to 2022-23, J&K had obtained Central consent to raise ₹3,900 crore from NABARD but availed only ₹2,316.37 crore, or 59 per cent of the approved borrowing.
At the tranche level, the proportion of sanctioned loans actually availed ranged from 28 per cent to 84 per cent, with slow execution and non-submission of utilisation certificates cited among the reasons for the shortfall.
The CAG also found delays of between three and 372 days in the release of mobilisation advances by the Finance Department to implementing departments. In 106 projects, the delay exceeded six months.
The audit estimated that timely release of the funds could have avoided an interest burden of ₹4.88 crore.
In another case, ₹293.03 crore received from NABARD during 2019-20 to 2022-23 was not released by the Finance Department to implementing departments and remained with the department as of March 2023. The CAG estimated an interest burden of ₹6.22 crore on the retained amount.
The audit also found 68 non-starter projects among 587 projects sanctioned under RIDF-XXVI and XXVII. Despite the projects not having commenced by March 2023, mobilisation advances amounting to ₹96.42 crore had been released. The CAG calculated an additional interest liability of ₹3.90 crore on the unutilised amount.
In a separate financial-control lapse, the Finance Department released ₹20.03 crore for five projects against ₹11.46 crore disbursed by NABARD, resulting in an excess release of ₹8.57 crore.
The five projects related to fruit and vegetable markets at Jablipora in Anantnag, Algar in Shopian and Pachhaar in Pulwama.
The CAG had also flagged execution without Technical Sanction, defective DPRs, improper site selection, diversion and misutilisation of funds and inadequate contract management. Periodic field inspections were either not conducted or not documented in several cases.
