HYDERABAD: After making a major headway in the construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the State government is now focusing on the construction of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project. For expediting the works on Palamuru-Rangareddy project, the State government is all set to raise `10,000 crore loan in first instalment this year.
The State government will borrow money from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The State government is also likely to raise loans from commercial banks for the purpose, the official sources said.
“We are in touch with the bankers. We will raise `10,000 crore loan for Palamuru-Rangareddy project,” a senior official told Express on Friday.
Instead of creating another corporation for the Palamuru project, the State government has recently linked the project with Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited (KIPCL). Chief engineer of Palamuru project would be on the board of KIPCL.
Bankers meet CS
The State government had accorded administrative approval for Palamuru-Rangareddy project in June 2015 with an outlay of `35,200 crore. However, the cost may go up as the construction was delayed due to court cases. The State government has already spent around `6,800 crore for land acquisition. According to official sources, the works on Package 1 to 18 of the project are currently in progress.
Meanwhile, the consortium of bankers of Mission Bhagiratha held a meeting with Chief Secretary SK Joshi on the progress of the project.According to sources, the bankers wanted the government to submit the report on the status of Mission Bhagiratha.
The State government had already submitted the report prepared by the WAPCOS for execution of Mission Bhagiratha. Now, the bankers have asked the government to submit the report on the progress of the project too.
Aasara pension
Meanwhile, the proposal for implementation of revised Aasara pensions from April was sent to the government. The Aasara pension will be hiked from the present `1,000 to `2,016 and persons with disabilities would get `3,016 against the existing `1,500 from April.However, the April pension will be paid to more than 42 lakh beneficiaries in May.