Centre released less than half of HEFA loans sanctioned to institutions

NEW DELHI: The amount released to educational institutions under the centre’s Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) scheme is less than half the sanctioned amount, education ministry data shows.

As per the official statistics, the government has sanctioned a loan of Rs 33, 926 crore to 100 educational institutions in 27 states and union territories but only Rs 14,675 crore has been released for utilisation.

Since 2018, the union government sanctioned significant amounts to institutions in states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and the national capital Delhi, however, the amount released was less than half. The data was presented by the ministry in Lok Sabha on Monday.

For instance, seven institutions in AP have been sanctioned Rs 2,719.79 crore but the amount released was Rs 1,442.01 crore. Five institutions in Jammu and Kashmir have been sanctioned an amount of Rs 3, 330.97 crore till June 2022 but the amount released is mere Rs 344 crore. Similarly in Maharashtra, only Rs 1,036 crore were released against an allocation of Rs 2, 358 crores. In Delhi, the centre released only Rs 968 crores as against Rs 2, 936 crores.

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Other major states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal also saw the release of funds far below the sanctioned budgets. For infrastructure development in four educational institutions in Karnataka, the centre sanctioned Rs 1,500 crore but released only Rs 342 crores. In Madhya Pradesh, the amount sanctioned is Rs 1,170 for six institutions but only Rs 459 crores were released for utilisation. In West Bengal it was Rs 715 as against the sanctioned amount of Rs 1,189 crores.

The RISE scheme was implemented by the “suitably restructuring” of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), a central government scheme that provides low-interest rate loans instead of capital grants for the creation of educational infrastructure. The scheme is applicable for eligible centrally funded higher education institutions. The amount is utilised to set up laboratories, research and development facilities, academic buildings and more.

However, the ambitious project has been fizzling out due to a massive reduction in the budget allocated to the scheme. The finance ministry had allocated a paltry budget of Rs 1 lakh to the scheme which was Rs 1 crore, down 99.9 percent from the previous fiscal.

HEFA loan amount

Source: Ministry of education