The World Bank and Asian Development Bank Consortium have agreed to grant a loan with the guarantee of the Central Government to give impetus to the construction work of capital city Amaravati, which has been stalled for five years.
For capital construction, the World Bank and ADB Consortium have informed the Central Government for giving a loan of Rs.15,000 crores. Officials of the Finance Department say that a total of Rs.15,000 crores will be received by the CRDA in the current financial year.
As soon as the agreement on loan sanction is reached, it will be 25% of the total loan. Rs.3,750 crore can be received in the form of advance. It is expected that these funds will be received by December. CRDA is preparing to start the construction work of Amaravati from January 2025.
In the past five years, the Amaravati works have been stopped and the bills of about Rs.9,000 crores have to be paid in respect of the works undertaken before. As soon as the coalition government came to power, efforts to restore the works were started.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured in her budget speech that funds will be given as a guarantee for Amaravati.In the past, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank had come forward to give loans for the construction of Amaravati, but withdrew them after the state government wrote that it was not necessary.
After the TDP-led coalition government was formed in the state, efforts were made to recover the previously sanctioned loan. With the central government also willing to be a guarantor, the issue of loan will come to an end. The process will be completed in a few days.
As part of the Amaravati Master Plan, Rs. 49,000 crores have to be spent on the development of infrastructure, development of layouts allocated to farmers who have been given land in land acquisition for the construction of the capital, construction of towers for the Legislative Assembly, High Court, Secretariat and office buildings of the heads of departments in the administrative city.
CRDA has recently prepared revised estimates to this extent. Old arrears also have to be paid heavily. Out of this, Rs.15,000 crores will be released in the current financial year itself. CRDA has already started the process of tenders. The necessary process for release of sanctioned loans from the World Bank and ADB has already started.
The World Bank team visited the capital three to four times. A key meeting will be held in Delhi on Thursday with the officials of the Union Finance Ministry, World Bank and CRDA. The final meeting will be held on November 8. The contracts will be completed by November 15. Officials say that if this process is completed, Rs. 15,000 crores will be sanctioned.