New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS): In a bid to enable cities to become "self-reliant" and "water secure", central assistance of Rs 66,750 crore has been allocated for the projects under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

Out of this, Rs 63,976.77 crore has already been approved to the states/UTs and an amount of Rs 11,756.13 crore has been released so far, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Tokhan Sahu, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.

The states/UTs have reported utilisation of Rs 6,539.45 crore of the central share.

Cumulatively, with the state's share, the total expenditure reported by the states/UTs is Rs 17,089 crore and works worth Rs 23,016.30 crore have been physically completed, the minister said.

The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is Rs 2,99,000 crore, including total central assistance of Rs 76,760 crore for five years.

AMRUT 2.0 scheme was launched on October 1, 2021, with an aim to provide universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities. Rejuvenation of water bodies, development of green spaces and parks, and a technology sub-mission to leverage the latest technologies in the field of water are other components of the mission.

As reported by states/UTs on the AMRUT 2.0 portal (as on November 15, 2024), tenders have been issued for 5,886 projects worth Rs 1,15,872.91 crore out of which, contracts have been awarded for 4,916 projects worth Rs 85,114.01 crore.

The rest of the projects are at various stages of implementation, said the minister. The projects taken up under the scheme are large infrastructure projects with long gestation periods. For assessment and monitoring of work done under AMRUT in the states/UTs, there is a provision of independent review and monitoring agencies (IRMAs). There is a dedicated AMRUT 2.0 online portal for tracking the progress and monitoring of projects provided by the states/UTs.