New Delhi : Taking cues from the Centre’s initiative of expediting clearances for stalled projects, Odisha has set up a project monitoring group (PMG). Thirteen other states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, may follow suit by the end of June. Apart from high-profile projects, such as Posco’s proposed R53,000-crore steel plant and Tata Sasol’s R60,000-crore coal-to-liquid project, many smaller mining and industrial projects have been stalled in Odisha. While the Centre’s PMG has been handling projects involving investments of R1,000 crore and above, similar cells at the state level will take up smaller projects (R100 crore to R1,000 crore) that are stuck because of a variety of reasons, PMG head and additional secretary at the cabinet secretariat, Anil Swarup, told FE. “By June end, about 10-14 states will put in place their own PMGs,” he said. Odisha launched its PMG this week and Uttaranchal, Swarup said, will have one on May 19. Kerala will put in place one on May 29, Karnataka on May 30 and Chhattisgarh on June 2. Other states, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Jharkhand, will also launch their respective PMGs next month. The urgency of the move stems from project delays, which have prevented Asia’s third-largest economy from scaling up output of fossil fuels, minerals and industrial goods. GDP growth slowed to decade’s low of 4.5% in 2012-13 from 8.9% in 2010-11 primarily because of policy paralysis and stalling of projects. On an aggregate, about 440 projects involving investments of R20 lakh crore have been referred to the CCI/PMG since last year, of which about 150, entailing R5.3 lakh crore, have been cleared. “The state-level project clearance mechanism will be integrated with that of the Centre,” Swarup said, referring to the complex process that a company currently has to go through at both federal and state levels to get all the necessary clearances. The PMG, which comprises senior officials from the cabinet secretariat and line ministries, offers a platform for companies to list their stalled projects on a portal and discuss and resolve pending issues with line ministries within a time-frame. While much of the targeted investment has already been made by companies in most projects, delays in certain approvals have prevented these projects from delivering the final output.