Tamil Nadu to invest Rs 3,249 cr in water, sewerage system

Eighty-one cities in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram will invest over Rs 5,700 crore to enhance basic infrastructure including water supply and sewerage connections.

The investments will be made under Atal Mission for Rejuventation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) action plans for the current year. An inter-ministerial apex committee headed by Urban

Development Secretary Madhusudan Prasad has approved state annual action plans (SAAP) of these five states which account for 81 mission cities to undertake investment of Rs 5,748 cr for improving drinking water supply and sewerage system. Central assistance will be provided to an extent of Rs 2,440 cr while the rest would be contributed by state governments and urban local bodies, said a senior UD Ministry official.

No sewerage connection is available in half of the Mission cities, while in the rest the coverage is in the range of 3 per cent in Ratlam (MP) to 62 per cent in Indore. Under the SAAP approved for 2015-16 for improving basic infrastructure, Tamil Nadu with 27 AMRUT cities would invest Rs 3,249 crore.