APUFIDC, VMC lock horns over JNNURM funds

There is a gross mismatch in records of the two organisations

January 03, 2013 10:42 am | Updated October 18, 2016 03:11 pm IST - VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APUFIDC) and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) are at loggerheads over funds to be released to the corporation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme.

There is a gross mismatch between the VMC claims and the APUFIDC calculations. The corporation officials put the figure at Rs.945 crore, while the APUFIDC officials peg it at Rs.805 crore. There is a straight difference of Rs.130 crore between APUFIDC and VMC records. The corporation took up various projects, including water supply, Under Ground Drainage (UGD) in un-served areas, BRTS and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) etc. The corporation has already completed six projects, and 13 projects are in different stages. The total projects take the total cost to Rs. 679.35 crore.

The State government has stopped release of its share and Centre’s share for various reasons. Non-compliance of reforms and failure to collect the beneficiary contribution (for housing schemes) are some of the reasons cited for stoppage of the funds. In addition, there are audit objections over approval of tenders and awarding of work orders also. The government took a serious view of bypassing the tendering committee while approving the tenders worth above Rs. 10 crore. The VMC has completed works worth of Rs. 936.91 crore. Of this, VMC share is only Rs. 281.07 crore. However, it spent Rs. 41.35 crore in excess. The works to the tune of Rs. 485.76 crore are still pending. The VMC has asked the APUFIDC to disclose the funds released to it so far.

And the APUFIDC is said to have unable to produce accurate data on funds released to the corporation, at a meeting chaired by Municipal Administration Minister Mahidhar Reddy in State Capital. Subsequently, the Minister asked the APUFIDC and the VMC to reconcile the records before January 5.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.