Now States will have to compete for central projects
The Centre has decided to adopt the challenge method for awarding all projects to states so as to bring in speed, efficiency and transparency, besides putting an end to allocation of big projects on political consideration
- As per existing practice, the formulation of schemes, land selection and acquisition, and others are done after the announcement. Such projects often face risks such as non-availability of suitable land, delay in land acquisition, delay in clearances, political opposition, lack of infrastructure and others
Important Points
- Under this method, prospective states will be rated on more than six parameters prescribed in the guidelines issued and the project will go to the state with the highest score on a scale of zero to 100.
- The challenge method for selecting the state as well as the site for the projects, which can be both brownfield and greenfield projects, will now be applicable various sectors such as aviation, health, education roads, railways, IT, power and textiles
- The NITI Aayog has sent guidelines for selection of sites and locations for projects and institutions through the challenge method.
- It will also be used for awarding all national events such as national games and youth festivals to states.
- Union Ministries will call for proposals and states will be eligible to participate in the challenge after giving their commitment on providing land and supporting utilities
Significance of this method:
- This is expected to incite competition among states and union territories both in terms of offering the best sites and committing resources in terms of land, utilities, infrastructure support and financial contribution, which in turn would boost optimum utilisation of scarce resources and help in timely completion of projects.
- The Centre believes the challenge method of site selection, based on competition between states, will lead to the selection of the most suitable site.
- Awarding projects based on the challenge method will ensure due diligence is being done by all departments and states. This will also mean that gestation period for all these projects will come down significantly and there will be no major delays and this will give enough push to efficiency.