VIJAYAWADA: Ever since Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) announced that it would take up infrastructure development worth over Rs 48,000 crore before 2019, it brought to fore a pertinent question of how the 44-month-old organisation of the State government would pull the task off with limited financial resources.
However, the authority, which adopted a multi-pronged strategy for pooling in funds, identified sources for tapping over Rs 30,000 crore and is in the process of finalising deals to take the capital construction forward.
While the authority is planning to borrow a major share of funds from commercial banks and lending agencies such as Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), it is also raising funds from capital markets. Already, the officials have been successful in getting in-principle approval/sanction of loans from various commercial banks for around Rs 12,060. Besides this, the HUDCO had committed to lend Rs 7,500 crore, while the World Bank has agreed to provide a loan of USD 1 billion dollars.
“The estimated cost of the initial phase of capital project is Rs 48,115 crore. There are a few projects, such as the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) costing Rs 700 crore and others, proposed for the future. So, considering the present requirement, it will be around Rs 45,000 crore, out of which we were able to identify sources for more than Rs 30,000 crore,” APCRDA Special Commissioner V Rama Manohar Rao told TNIE.
So far, the authority has drawn more than Rs 4,500 crore — Rs 2,000 crore from Amaravati Bonds, Rs 1,500 crore from the Government of India and about Rs 970 crore from the HUDCO. This is besides the Rs 1,500 crore released by the State government.
“We will be able to draw the other sanctioned loans in the next three to six months,” Rao said.
The authority is also exploring options to raise the remaining amount required for the capital construction.
