Half of Haryana will now be covered under NCR

Chandigarh, July 2: With the inclusion of Bhiwani and Mahendergarh districts in the National Capital Region, almost half of Haryana will now be covered under the NCR.

The total area of Haryana sub-region has increased from 13,428 sq km to 20,105 sq km which works out to 45.47 per cent of the state's total area.

Stating this here today, a government spokesman today said the state government had made a request to the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) to include Bhiwani and Mahendergarh districts in the NCR in view of their proximity to Delhi and also because of the need to integrate the area with better connectivity so as to make the area a more vibrant economic entity. This will help in the region's planning and also obtaining loan assistance for major infrastructure projects which could come up in this area, he said.

The state government's request was accepted in the 33rd meeting of the NCRPB held yesterday, the spokesman said, adding Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also requested for inclusion of the districts of Jind (2,702 sq km) and Karnal (2,520 sq km) in the NCR, which was approved in-principle.

He said, for development within the NCR, the Board provides financial assistance in the form of soft loans to the extent of 75 per cent of the project cost.

Till date, NCRPB has provided loan assistance to 277 infrastructure projects worth Rs 18,994 crore upto March, 2013 in the entire NCR. In the Haryana sub-region, 106 projects have already been completed with an estimated cost of Rs 4,683 crore and a sanctioned loan amount of Rs 2,581 crore.

In the last meeting of NCRPB, it was decided to provide a grant of 15 per cent of the project cost to encourage and provide incentives to states and urban local bodies to provide water, sewerage and drainage services across the NCR in a time-bound manner.

PTI