Two major approvals in one sitting
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has granted financial approval worth ₹99 crore for a wide-ranging set of infrastructure, health, road, and transport-related works across several districts, alongside a separate ₹75 crore sanction from the state budget to ensure the smooth operation of the State Health Authority's Golden Card scheme and to clear pending dues owed to empanelled hospitals.
Where the ₹99 crore is going
The approved package covers a broad mix of projects spanning Nainital, Rudraprayag, Dehradun, Haridwar, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Pauri Garhwal, and Bageshwar districts:
- ₹3.68 crore for automation of the Automated Driving Test Track in Ramnagar, Nainital district
- ₹38.06 lakh for repair, painting, tiling, panelling and electrification work at the non-residential building of the Rudraprayag Treasury
- ₹2.73 crore for construction and site development of a proposed 150 KLD STP plant at the Police Communication Training Centre, Dhaurankhas, Dehradun
- ₹9.45 crore for establishing a fire station in the Bahadrabad Industrial Area, Haridwar
- ₹5 crore (₹2 crore as first instalment) for streetlights along the pilgrimage route from Kakrali Tanakpur to Maa Purnagiri Dham, Champawat
- ₹70.87 lakh (₹42.52 lakh first instalment) for an internal connecting road in Loharganv, Didihat assembly constituency, Pithoragarh
- ₹99.44 lakh (₹59.66 lakh first instalment) for an open gym for students at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Latauli, Champawat
- ₹85.74 lakh (₹51.44 lakh first instalment) to develop the connecting road from Janki Pul to Chaurasi Kutiya as "Beatles Street" in Yamkeshwar, Pauri Garhwal
- ₹81.43 lakh (₹48.85 lakh first instalment) for a footpath from Uchhaidi Nanda Temple to Kholi Ban village in Dharchula, Pithoragarh
- ₹75 lakh (₹45 lakh first instalment) for beautification of a Shiv Mandir in Dungrifartyal gram panchayat, Lohaghat, Champawat
- ₹5 crore (₹2 crore first instalment) for a power substation in the Saryu Valley and Shama areas, Kapkot, Bageshwar
- ₹19.68 lakh for interlocking tile work in Selagad village near Maa Purnagiri Dham, Champawat
- ₹87.95 lakh (₹52.77 lakh first instalment) for two dharamshalas — at Kaidakot Bugh in Kaidagaon and Mounibagh Ashram in Dhari, Bhimtal, Nainital
- ₹1.38 crore (as first instalment) for rural roads and bridges under state schemes, CM announcements, and NABARD-funded projects in Chamoli and Pauri Garhwal, including a foot bridge in Nandanagar and a motorable road resurfacing project in Deval
₹75 crore to keep the Golden Card scheme running
Separately, the Chief Minister approved the release of ₹75 crore from the state budget specifically for the State Health Authority's Golden Card scheme — both to keep it operating smoothly and to clear a backlog of pending payments owed to hospitals. The move addresses a recurring problem: private hospitals empanelled under the state's health coverage schemes have periodically threatened to restrict or refuse cashless treatment when dues from the state run into arrears, with pending payments to network hospitals having exceeded ₹130 crore at points in the recent past. The Golden Card underpins both the Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana, which offers ₹5 lakh in annual cashless health coverage to all resident families in the state, and a separate scheme for state government employees and pensioners.
Why it matters
Taken together, the two approvals reflect a now-familiar pattern from the Dhami government of issuing frequent, itemised tranches of development funding — this ₹99 crore round follows other recent packages, including ₹495 crore for Kumbh Mela 2027 preparations and road works approved just days earlier, and an ₹89 crore package for police housing infrastructure the previous month. The Golden Card allocation, though smaller in headline terms than some of the state's larger capital outlays, has an outsized practical impact: with lakhs of families relying on cashless treatment under Atal Ayushman and the state employee health scheme, timely bill payments to hospitals directly determine whether beneficiaries can access care without being asked to pay out of pocket.
This article reflects the Chief Minister's Office release dated July 12, 2026. Figures for individual project instalments reflect first-tranche releases; full project costs may be disbursed in further instalments as work progresses.