VIJAYAWADA: Machilipatnam JSP MP Vallabhaneni Balashowry on Monday urged the Union government to extend the deadline for Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads (APRR) Project during the Winter Session of Parliament. He raised the matter under Rule 377 of the House proceedings.
Underlining the importance of rural roads, he explained that the State government launched a major project to lay 7,000 km length of roads with the support of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2018-19 by December 31, 2024.
However, the project failed to achieve expected outcomes between 2019 and 2024, forcing them to seek a revised time frame for the project completion. He mentioned that the coalition government had requested an extension of the deadline to December 1, 2026.
MP Balashowry appealed to the Centre to revise the funding ratio of AIIB and GoAP to 90:10 from 70:30 to ensure better financial support for the project completion. Addressing a query by Vijayawada MP Kesineni Shivanath on taxation over fruit protection paper bags, Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary clarified that 18% GST is currently applicable on same.