Nine more towns in Rajasthan have been selected for creating sewerage infrastructure under the Urban Infrastructure Development of Small and Medium Towns (UIDSMT) programme of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). A grand total of Rs.389 crore has been sanctioned for the projects which are likely to get going from this coming July in a fast track mode. The projects were cleared at the State-level sanctioning meeting held between officials of the Union Urban Development Ministry, led by Sojaya Krishnan, and the functionaries of the Rajasthan Government in Delhi earlier this week. Among the North Indian states, Rajasthan reportedly is ranked best in sewerage infrastructure. Among the towns taken up under UIDSMT, Bikaner's total project costs Rs.70 crore out of which the town's Urban Improvement Trust would contribute Rs.30 crore. Hanumangarh town and Hanumangarh Junction together have received a sanction of Rs.46.09 crore for sewerage projects and rainwater harvesting schemes. The other towns and their respective allocations are: Jhunjhunu (Rs.39.54 crore); Beawar (Rs.50 crore); Sardarshahar (Rs.38.88 crore); Makrana (Rs.49.92 crore) and Kota (Rs.49 crore). In Beawar and Makrana the sanction is for augmentation of the water supply schemes. The historic town of Virat Nagar in Jaipur district has been sanctioned Rs.1.2 crore for urban renewal. Besides the new projects, Rajasthan has 29 projects under way in 27 towns with a sanction of Rs.269 crore. Rajasthan's Local Self Governance Secretary Manjit Singh told The Hindu on his return from Delhi that the State now has a total sanction of Rs.1,720 crore under various projects