By IANS,
New Delhi : The second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM, meant to improve the quality of life and infrastructure in cities, will begin next year and funds spent under the scheme will be audited by a third party, Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said Thursday.
“The money spend in JNNURM projects will be inspected by a third party. The second phase of the JNNURM will begin sometime next year,” Reddy told reporters, releasing a report, Intelligent Urbanisation.
The government has allocated Rs.11,619 crore in the 2010-11 budget for the scheme.
The report, prepared by Booz and company along with Cisco and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), highlights the bottlenecks in the development of urban infrastructure in India.
According to the minister the second phase of the JNNURM will not be much different from the first phase. “There will be minor changes,” he added.
Launched in December 2005, the JNNURM consists of two sub-missions — Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP).
“We would have $25 billion for the JNNURM projects for the next seven years. We will need public-private partnerships to execute the projects,” said Reddy.
Last month, the parliamentary standing committee on urban development had criticised the government for not acting fast on improving urban infrastructure in many cities.