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.
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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.