Consortium of eight banks comes to the aid of government

Approves sanction of Rs. 6,750 crore loan for Mission Bhagiratha

The Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project (Mission Bhagiratha) has got approval for sanction of Rs. 6,750 crore loan by a consortium of eight banks, led by Andhra Bank. The other banks are Dena Bank, Punjab and Sindh Bank, Syndicate Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank, a press release from the Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWS&S) Department informed.

The decision was taken at a meeting organised at the Andhra Bank corporate office here on Wednesday, attended by Panchayat Raj Special Chief Secretary S.P. Singh, Principal Secretary, Finance, Ramakrishna Rao, Secretary Navin Mittal, Engineer-in-Chief of RWS&S Surender Reddy among other officials and representatives from all the banks.

Andhra Bank’s managing director Suresh Patel said the bank had already approved a loan of Rs. 1,300 crore for the project, before forming a consortium. The detailed project reports (DPR) of the project has been scrutinised by the banks along with its tendering process and payment of bills, Mr. Patel said, and added that it is only rarely that such a large amount is approved for a government project. He said more banks are showing interest to join the consortium.

Attending officials made a PowerPoint presentation on Mission Bhagiratha for the bankers.

Syndicate Bank, OBC, and Bank of Maharashtra have agreed to give Rs. 1,000 crore each, while Indian Bank will give Rs. 750 crore. Punjab and Sindh Bank have agreed to provide Rs. 700 crore, and Dena Bank and Allahabad Bank have approved Rs. 500 crore each, the note said.

The Board of Directors of the Andhra Bank has already approved the loan of Rs. 1,300 crore, and the amount will soon be released. The rest in the consortium will approve the loan in their respective management committee meetings, the note informed. Repayment period will begin from 2019, and the loan will have to be repaid within a maximum period of 12 years.

The loan will be used for Mission Bhagiratha works in Karimnagar and Warangal, the note said.