The State government has recently announced a host of infrastructure projects to be taken up around the KBR National Park, the combined cost of which is put at ₹826 crore.
| Photo Credit: Representational purpose
The Hyderabad City Innovation and Transformative Infrastructure (HCITI) project might get part of the funding through borrowings, akin to its predecessors such as the Strategic Road Development Plan and the Strategic Nala Development Programme.
However, unlike earlier, this time round, the borrowings could be by the State government and not the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Further, the funding could be through multilateral lending agencies, instead of the public sector banks.
It has been learnt from confidential sources that the HCITI, which is an umbrella term for projects pertaining to both road and drain infrastructure in the city, is evoking keen interest from quite a few international funding agencies based in Asia. Part of the interest is due to well laid out plans for the projects and partly due to prompt payment of previous loans, sources informed.
The GHMC was at the brink of financial ruin till a few months ago, due to debt burden incurred from the two projects. Contractors were not paid for several months, and even when they were, it was through loans arranged via Trade Receivables Discounting System. It has not yet fully recovered even now, and fumbles around for payment of even regular salaries.
Nevertheless, the GHMC has already paid off around ₹1,000 crore principal amount from the loan obtained for the SRDP and SNDP components, which makes it credit worthy in the capital market, share officials.
The corporation has got handsome allocation from this year’s State budget, with ₹2,654 crore allocated as assistance for HCITI project. Of this, about ₹250 crore has already been released in the first quarter, informed officials.
The State government has recently announced a host of infrastructure projects to be taken up around the KBR National Park, the combined cost of which is put at ₹826 crore. Further, tenders could soon be called for a few works pertaining to improvement of stormwater drain network in the city. Together, cost of these projects could go well beyond the allocations, for which borrowings are an option in active consideration.
Published – October 17, 2024 08:13 pm IST
