The city has benefited on many fronts with the developmental works taken up under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme, according to Municipal Commissioner G. Ravi Babu.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Ravi Babu made a case that the JNNURM programme was not a burden on the city. The VMC could easily sail through on financial front in the years to come. “The loans availed for implementing the JNNURM projects could be easily cleared. The non-plan grants alone were sufficient to repay the remaining loans,” he said.
In the same breath, Mr. Ravi Babu said: “The Corporation is planning to take an additional Rs.100 crore of loan from financial institutions like HUDCO to complete the remaining works.” When asked for details, he said “The VMC has many properties to mortgage to avail a new loan.”
The VMC has so far taken loans from HUDCO (Rs.100 crore), Union Bank of India (UBI) (Rs.70 crore) and Corporation Bank (Rs.50 crore). The UBI loan would be cleared by 2014. The remaining loans could be easily cleared with the non-plan grants from the Government, he said.
Explaining the achievements, Mr. Ravi Babu said that the programme had helped in developing the city, and wining awards and laurels at many fora. The city had been adjudged best on many fronts and had been receiving awards every year since 2006.
The potable drinking water to all, 100 per cent door-to-door collection of garbage, 95 per cent access to sewerage, comprehensive development of 85 slums, and completion of 13,472 houses were a few developments achieved through the programme, he said.
The VMC had spent a total of Rs.226.65 crore as its share in the JNNURM projects. The State and Central Governments had released Rs.768.07 crore so far. The Corporation would pool up another Rs.249.88 crore for the remaining works. The sources of funding include: beneficiary contribution (housing) Rs.62.96 crore and a loan of Rs.100 crore, he added.
