Shillong, Dec 21: The state Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal for availing loan of Rs 1,500 crore under the NABARD Infrastructure Development Assistance (NIDA). Meghalaya is the second state in the North East after Assam to avail this loan.

Cabinet has approved the proposal to avail the NABARD NIDA fund. Through this fund, we intend to develop the infra for- 40+ Blocks, L.P Schools, administrative buildings & police stations. We are submitting proposals of ₹1500 Cr to @NABARDOnline for the same. pic.twitter.com/1kTUwzVp1d

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) December 21, 2021

Informing this after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, “We have put in a proposal of Rs 1,500 crore to NABARD for this fund. Today the cabinet has approved it and the proposal will be sent to NABARD for final approval and release of the funds to the state government.”

He said that the assistance under NIDA is based on the overall revenue earning capacity of the state and calculation is accordingly made by NABARD.

“This is a loan component that is used for infrastructural development work but it does not come into the budgetary provision of the state government, it is implemented through the public sector undertaking,” he said.

The chief minister further informed that the state government is going to take up various infrastructural developments under the NIDA funds that include infrastructure for the over 40 plus community and rural development blocks.

“We are going to budget some Rs 100 crore for the lower primary schools, we will also be budgeting money for administrative blocks, wherever it is required, administrative units like civil sub division buildings, DC offices, SP offices – all these administrative buildings will be done with this fund,” he said.

“We also intend to invest in police stations as they have been neglected for a very long time. With the NIDA fund, we will see development and infrastructure improvement throughout the spectrum,” he added.

When asked, the chief minister said that the state government will have to repay the loan in the next 15 years.

According to him, these are important investments that the state government is making and more importantly these are funds that come after a detailed calculation is made by NABARD and the state gets only the amount that it deserves.

“Other states like Assam, the government had already applied for this and they have got an approval of close to Rs 10,000 crore of funds for this particular project and scheme and we are the second state to take advantage of this particular scheme at least in the North East,” he said.

He further informed that the interest component will be at 7.5 percent, which is much lower than the market rate.