Naidu struggles to find funds for Amaravati
With further financial support from the Centre becoming uncertain following the break-up in the TDP-BJP alliance, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to tap into all possible resources to mobilise funds for his dream project of giving capital Amaravati a concrete shape before the 2019 general elections.
Going by the pace of works, Naidu had been facing an uphill task to showcase progress on the work due to the paucity of funds.
But with financial agencies like Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) and World Bank sanctioning funds, besides commercial banks agreeing to loans, the scenario is likely to change soon.
During a review meeting recently, the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), which is overseeing the development of Amaravati, put the total cost of capital construction at ~48,115 crore, which might go up to ~58,000 crore in the next 20 years.
The Centre, however, gave only ~1,500 crore in the last three years, while the state sent proposals for another ~1,000 crore for this year. “But not a single rupee was allocated in the Union budget for Amaravati this year,” Naidu said in the meeting.
The TDP government has so far mobilised ~16,810 crore through financial agencies and bank loans. While Hudco sanctioned ~1,275 crore in December last year for infrastructure works such as roads, a World Bank loan for ~3,324 crore is expected in a month or two, which will be used for major arterial roads, flood mitigation and to upgrade village infrastructure.
“Commercial banks such as Andhra Bank, Vijaya Bank and Indian Bank are providing financial assistance of ₹2,026 crore for the housing projects,” APCRDA commissioner Cherukuri Sridhar said. The CRDA authorities also came up with a proposal of monetising around 5,000 acres of 34,000 acres of land pooled from the farmers for capital that was reserved without allocating for any purpose.
Recently, the CM announced the government would look at issuing capital bonds to mobilise funds from the market. “We have taken up a credit-rating exercise for issuance of domestic and masala bonds,” a CRDA official said.
At the same time, Naidu mooted the concept of crowdfunding for the capital. “However, we can’t expect people to fund the capital construction. It can just be a token gesture to inculcate the spirit of ownership among the people,” he said.
At present, work is going on at a brisk pace for construction of an over 240km road network, storm water drains, drinking water supply lines, underground drainage and sewerage trunk work, apart from power and optical fibre connectivity ducts.
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