Kolkata, Sep 23 - West Bengal is lagging behind in implementing the projects sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) scheme, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Roy said here Wednesday.

'West Bengal and Delhi are lagging behind in (utilising) the fund sanctioned under the schemes of JNURM. West Bengal has received Rs.3,200 crore under the JNURM scheme but has approved projects worth only Rs.1,300 crore. The rest of the projects are yet to be implemented,' Roy said at the 108th annual general meeting of the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce (MCC).

He said altogether 15,000 low-floor buses were sanctioned under the JNURM schemes, of which West Bengal got 1,300 such buses - 1,200 buses for Kolkata and 100 for Burdwan district's Asansol.

'As of now, only three low-floor buses are plying on Kolkata roads while the deadline of implementing the scheme is Dec 30, 2009. I don't know how the state government would meet the last date of running all the buses,' he said, criticising the state's Left Front (LF) government.