Gujaratstartups, VADODARA: The state government has decided to disburse a whopping Rs 202 crore for improving infrastructure in the villages across the state under Swarnim Gujarat celebrations. The infrastructure development projects will be carried out on the lines of public-private partnership. State urban development minister Nitin Patel said on Monday that the government has decided to grant the amount to encourage people to take up infrastructure projects in interior areas.

"The idea is to create permanent infrastructure in all the villages in the state. We are just trying to create assets for the future and participation from people is being encouraged to involve them in the projects," Patel said.

Vadodara district will get Rs 8.98 crore off the total grant to improve infrastructure in its 1,513 villages. The government will kick off Swarnim Gujarat Sankalp Jyot' for two months starting from February 12. Various programmes have been organised in the villages following which the swarnim Gujarat rath will be welcomed there. "Until now, we were focusing on the cities, but now we have an ambitious plan of reaching out to every village in the state," district collector Vijay Nehra said.

The state government will also give Rs 5,000 to small villages and Rs 10,000 to bigger villages for funding the celebrations. Patel also said that the state government has demanded to the Centre to increase the grants under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) funds to them.

Source: Times Of India