Bhubaneswar: The Centre has approved capital investment proposals of Rs 56,415 crore in 16 states, including Odisha, in the current financial year.

The approval has been given by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, under a scheme entitled ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24’, sources said.

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 4,528 crore to Odisha under the scheme.

Bihar received the highest of amount of Rs 9,640 crore under the scheme, followed by Madhya Pradesh (Rs 7,850 crore), West Bengal (Rs 7,523 crore) and Rajasthan (Rs 6,026 crore).

Capital investment projects in diverse sectors including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges and railways have been approved under the scheme.

Funds for meeting the state share of Jal Jeevan Mission and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have also been provided to the states under this scheme.

In order to boost capital spending by states, Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24 scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24. Under the scheme, special assistance is being provided to the state governments in the form of 50-year interest free loan up to an overall sum of Rs 1.3 lakh crore during 2023-24 fiscal.