YSR Congress MLA and chairman of the Legislative Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Buggana Rajendranath Reddy on Wednesday released a statement raising several questions about the Amaravati bonds floated to raise funds for the building of the capital.
Mr Rajendranath Reddy said the the contradictory statements made by the government and its representatives on the bonds in the past few days had led to the questions.
While the government said an interest of 10.50% would be paid, the APCRDA claimed that it would pay only 10.32%. If interest was paid every three months to the bond holder, the rate would actually work out to 10.70%, he said.
The MLA asked why the State government was taking a loan at such a high interest rate. In an order issued on February 8, it said it was ready to take loan from HUDCO only if it gave at 8%. The G.O. also specified that the Central government also gave permission for infrastructure bonds at the low rate of 6%. But now it offered such a high interest, he said.
According to the terms and conditions, the bond holders could withdraw up to 20% of their principal in the sixth year. Would all the bond holders be allowed to make withdrawals, the MLAs asked. That would amount to ₹400 crore on the ₹2,000 crore bonds sold till now.
While vice-chairman of the Planning Board C Kuthumba Rao said no commission was given to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the government said it was going to pay 0.85% plus GST to the merchant bank that handled the sale. This would work out to ₹17 crore for just the Rs 2,000 crore bonds sold in the first instalment. The commission would be astronomical as the sale increases. Mr. Rajendranath wanted the State government to clarify the position on these issues.
