Sec. 8-154a. Contracts for state financial assistance; eligibility. Net cost of project. Disposition of land by municipalities. (1) The state, acting by the Commissioner of Housing, may enter into a contract with a municipality, acting by its redevelopment agency, for state financial assistance for a redevelopment or urban renewal project under this chapter, in any redevelopment area or urban renewal area in such municipality, as defined in this chapter; provided such project shall have been approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for an advance for surveys and plans, a loan or grant contract or a neighborhood development program under Title I of the federal Housing Act of 1949, as amended, and provided a contract between the municipality and the federal government for a federal capital grant-in-aid shall not have been entered into prior to May 9, 1958. Such contract may provide for financial assistance by the state in the form of a grant equal to one-half of the excess of the net cost of the project as determined by the commissioner over the federal grant-in-aid thereof; provided, in determining such net cost for purposes of providing state financial assistance from any funds becoming available after July 1, 1963, by legislative enactment, the commissioner shall neither recognize nor credit as municipal noncash contributions any expenditures by the state of Connecticut, other than state grants for urban renewal or redevelopment or schools, which relate in any way to any urban renewal or redevelopment project, and provided, with respect to state financial assistance from any funds becoming available after July 1, 1963, by legislative enactment, in any instances in which noncash contributions provided by any private, nongovernmental