Inclusion of metro projects in special package sought

Vijayawada: The Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation (AMRC) which is in search of an external funding agency is now banking its hopes on the special assistance package announced by the Centre. It wants the inclusion of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam metro rail projects as part of the special assistance package (SAP) announced as it will also boost the prospects of getting an external aid.

As both metro projects are being taken up with the external aid and they are part of Central sector projects, the AMRC argues that the criteria to include the projects in the SAP has been met according to the announcement made by union finance minister Arun Jaitley. The union government has announced a special assistance package in place of the special category status to Andhra Pradesh which says, the central government will facilitate the finances on the basis of 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loan in case of externally-aided projects.

The AMRC is in search of a funding agency to take external loan for both the projects after JICA was dropped. The AMRC need Rs 3,543 crore for Vijayawada metro and Rs 6,371 crore for Visakhapatnam metro in the form of external aid. Now if these two projects are included in the SAP, the state will have to repay only 10 per cent of the loan taken from external sources which comes to around only Rs 1,000 crore over a period of 25 to 30 years.

AMRC managing director N. Ramakrishna Reddy said on Tuesday that the Centre cannot exclude these two important projects from the SAP. He said the state government should pursue the matter before the SAP gets notified. Mr Reddy also said according to the 13th Schedule of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the onus of funding metro rail projects lies with the union government only. This is the right time for the state government to press for the inclusion of metro rail projects in the SAP as it will fetch Rs 9,000 crore benefit to the state, Mr Reddy added.