The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs.407.84 crore to the State for rural infrastructure projects.
The funds are sanctioned from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of the Bank for providing infrastructure facilities to agriculture and related sector and social and connectivity sectors. The total cost of the 63 projects sanctioned is estimated at Rs.482.85 crore.
With this, the total funds sanctioned under the RIDF to Kerala has risen to Rs.738.36 crore during the year 2012-13, an official release said.
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The water supply projects will assure drinking water to 8.94 lakh people in 36 villages of six districts — Kottayam, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram, Wayanad, and Kasaragod.
Rs.142.23 crore is provided for the Government Medical College in Kottayam. It is likely to benefit 2.5 lakh people in eight villages, apart from Sabarimala pilgrims. Bridges proposed under the projects will benefit four villages that have 1.5 lakh people and reduce the travel distance of about 12 km from Kottayam to Kumarakom tourist centre.
The irrigation and flood protection projects will cover bout 3370 hectares of agricultural land. Road projects are expected to benefit 17 villages and 13,500 people.
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The implementation of the above projects will generate non-recurring employment of about 89.60 lakh man-days, the release added.