Bhopal, Jan 31 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and road transport minister Nitin Gadkari for greenlighting or inaugurating river linking and road infrastructure projects which will benefit the state.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who chaired the meeting, thanked prime minister Modi and Shekhawat for giving nod to the Parbati-Kali Sindh-Chambal river linking project, urban development minister Kailash Vijaywargiya told reporters afterwards.
“The project was formulated during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but it remained pending after the UPA government came to power,” he said.
The cabinet also thanked Gadkari for recently inaugurating or laying foundation stones of road and allied infrastructure projects worth Rs 10,405 crore in Madhya Pradesh.
The river linking project will benefit 12 districts of Malwa and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh and 13 districts of east Rajasthan, Yadav was quoted as saying in an official release.
Of the estimated cost of Rs 75,000 crore, the state’s share will be only 10 percent while the rest would come from the Union government, Yadav informed the cabinet.
The project would irrigate 6.17 lakh hectares of land across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In 2003, the state’s total irrigation potential was six lakh hectares, the chief minister noted.
Further, foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa river linking project will be laid in February, he said.
A task force will be constituted for implementing suggestions given by Gadkari regarding agriculture and industrial sectors, Yadav said.
The cabinet also decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to start-up entrepreneurs for taking part in national-level competitions and Rs 1.5 lakh for participating in international competitions.
A start-up will be eligible for the assistance only once in a financial year and only twice overall, he added. PTI MAS KRK
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