27-Sep-2017: States will have to compete for central projects

The Centre has decided to adopt the so-called challenge method for awarding all projects to states so as to bring in speed, efficiency and transparency, besides putting an end to allocation of big projects on political consideration.

Under this method, prospective states will be rated on more than half-dozen parameters prescribed in the guidelines issued and the project will go to the state with the highest score on a scale of zero to 100.

The challenge method for selecting the state as well as the site for the projects, which can be both brownfield and greenfield projects, will now be applicable across sectors such as aviation, roads, railways, health, education, IT, power and textiles. It will also be used for awarding all national events such as national games and youth festivals to states.

This is expected to spur competition among states and union territories both in terms of offering the best sites and committing resources in terms of land, utilities, infrastructure support and financial contribution, which in turn would encourage optimum utilisation of scarce resources and help in timely completion of projects. Awarding projects based on the challenge method will ensure due diligence is being done by all departments and states. This will also mean that gestation period for all these projects will come down significantly and there will be no major delays and this will give enough push to efficiency.