The Hindu : Front Page : GVMC firms up plans for floating bonds

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Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
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GVMC firms up plans for floating bonds

G.V. Prasada Sarma

Expert team from Bangalore to assess credit rating of the corporation

Idea is to raise Rs. 100 cr. for National Urban Renewal Mission
Work on 6,000 houses gets under way at Kommadi

VISAKHAPATNAM: In an effort to raise resources for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation is likely to float bonds.

An expert team from an independent agency will be here next week to assess the credit rating of the corporation, according to Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Meena. The corporation intends to raise upwards of Rs. 100 crores by floating bonds, he told The Hindu on Tuesday. Merchant bankers DARASHAW from Bangalore will be coming for an assessment.

Exuding confidence that meeting the JNNURM commitment will not be difficult, he said of the more than Rs.1,200 crores worth works for which administrative sanction had been accorded, Rs.200 crores was towards housing for which GVMC need not contribute. Of the cost of the unit, 50 per cent is grant, 40 per cent bank loan and 10 per cent is beneficiary contribution. Incidentally, the cost of unit had been raised to Rs.1.4 lakh now.

Of the remaining amount (for JNNURM), roughly Rs. 300 crores will be the GVMC share. While some of the projects have three years for completion, for some it ranges from 18 to 24 months. Hence the yearly commitment would be to the maximum of Rs. 150 crores, he estimated.

Water for APIIC

Mr. Meena, who is the chairman of the Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company, said the board which met had decided to give 5 million litres a day (mld) to the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, a stakeholder in VISWO, for supply to the Pharma City at Achyutapuram. The APIIC would lay a pipeline from the offtake point in the Yeleru canal. By 2009-10, APIIC estimates that its demand will go up to 95 mld. The Municipal Commissioner said work on 6,000 houses under JNNURM at Kommadi had begun. At a meeting with officials last week, the Chief Minister had asked them to go ahead with the work.

For another 9,000 houses comprising seven packages for which tenders had been called, two packages for about 2,500 houses, were finalised on Monday. Fresh tenders would be called for the remaining houses.

A validation exercise for the 60,000 applications for houses under JNNURM would be taken up in the “Intintiki Indiramma” programme from September 1 to 25.

MLAs, corporators and official teams would visit all the slums and remove names of the ineligible and include fresh one if they are eligible.

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