Question : Utilisation Certificate for Infrastructure Projects

(a) whether the State Governments of North Eastern Region have delayed in issuing utilization certificates or have not submitted them altogether in respect of infrastructure projects;
(b) If so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State-wise;
(c) the action taken by the Government in this regard;
(d) whether there have been cases of utilization certificates being submitted beyond the actual expenditure on various schemes in the Region; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
[Dr. Jitendra Singh]

(a) There are cases of delayed submission of Utilization Certificates by some State Governments of the North Eastern Region in respect of infrastructure projects under Non lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) and schemes of the North Eastern Council (NEC).
(b) State-wise details of pending Utilization Certificates (UC) in respect of projects sanctioned under NLCPR Scheme and NEC are as under :-
(Rs. in crore)

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Sl. No. State Amount of Pending UCs (NLCPR Scheme) Amount of Pending UCs (NEC)
1. Arunachal Pradesh 77.33 14.16
2. Assam 141.49 39.69
3. Manipur Nil 18.80
4. Meghalaya 26.77 16.36
5. Mizoram 25.52

3.09
6. Nagaland Nil 20.80
7. Sikkim Nil 5.30
8. Tripura Nil 5.00

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Main reasons for delays in issue of Utilization Certificates by State Governments are delay in release of funds to the Implementing agencies, procedural delays related to the tendering processes and the relatively short working season.
(c) Various measures for timely submission of Utilization Certificates have been taken including sanction of token release of only Rs.10 lakh and the remaining release just-in-time after work order is issued apart from review at various levels and extensive use of Information Technology (IT) tools.
(d) and (e) The schemes are implemented by the State Governments through their agencies who also send Quarterly Progress Reports (QPR) and Utilisation Certificates (UC). The UCs are countersigned by the competent authority in the State Government. Instances of deviations in reporting utilization of funds would be addressed through the institutional mechanisms existing at the State level.