New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS): The Centre has approved capital projects worth Rs 2,903.80 crore in eight states.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the projects have been approved under a scheme titled 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for 2021-22'.

Besides, the ministry has released an amount of Rs 1,393.83 crore to these states, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Sikkim and Telangana.

The scheme was launched in April 2021 to provide resources to the state governments in the wake of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It aims to provide a special assistance to the state governments in the form of a 50-year interest free loan up to an overall sum not exceeding Rs 15,000 crore during FY22.

The scheme has three parts. The first provides assistance to the northeasten states, the second is for the rest of the states, while the third is meant to provide incentives to those states which go for disinvestment of state public sector enterprises (SPSEs) and recycling of assets.

A similar scheme entitled 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure for 2020-21' was also launched by the Finance Ministry in the last financial year.

Under the scheme, capital expenditure proposals of Rs 11,911.79 crore of 27 states were approved by the Department of Expenditure, and an amount of Rs 11,830.29 crore was released to the states in 2020-21.