MUMBAI, May 19: The economic sanctions imposed by the Clinton Administration in the wake of nuclear tests carried out by the Vajpayee government are unlikely to affect Maharashtra in any way, according to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi.``So far, there is no official communication from the Centre or any of the funding agencies on the impact of the sanctions imposed by USA and as such, there is no threat to either the on-going or proposed projects,'' Joshi told media persons after the weekly cabinet meeting.Joshi said his government has sought financial assistance from the World Bank, Japan, European Economy Community, International Fund for Agriculture Development and British government.``The total cost of the 15 projects, which are in different stages of completion if Rs 10271 crore. The outlay for the current year is Rs 1060.37 crore,'' he added.Some of the major projects are Maharashtra power project phase I and II, Maharashtra Rural Water Supply, Environment Sanitation and Health Education, MumbaiSewerage project, national hydrology project, Ghatgar pumped storage, Ajanta Verul Development (phase I and II), Uran gas turbine project and Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Project.In addition, Joshi said his government has submitted projects worth Rs 14889.77 crore for external financial assistance. While assistance of Rs 3000 crore has been sought for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), Rs 1000 crore for black topping of roads, Rs 1000 crore for state roads and Rs 600 crore for the Maharashtra Water Resource Consolidated ProjectWhen his attention was drawn to the massive criticism of the series of irrigation corporations set by his government, manohar Joshi justified the decision saying for equal development of all the regions and effective utilisation of irrigation potential, it was essential to set up such corporations. ``We floated bonds for developmental projects like Krishna Valley Development Corporation, Tapi Valley Development Corporation to ensure faster prosperity of thestate and its people,'' he added.To a query, Joshi said the State Government was in a position to repay loans availled by it and money raised through bonds for completion of big projects. Raising money through loans for projects was necessary for the progress of the state, he reiterated.Joshi denied the reports appearing in a section of the media about the financial situation of his government. ``We are not going bankrupt as we are in a very sound financial position,'' Joshi remarked.
