VISAKHAPATNAM: GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg on Sunday denied allegations that the civic body’s general funds were being diverted to Amaravati and said the claims circulating on social media and other media platforms were false and baseless.
Ketan Garg said GVMC had paid Rs 2,620.28 crore to contractors against 24,128 bills through its General Funds from 2019-20 to 2026-27.
Of this, Rs 940.17 crore was paid against 6,057 bills during 2025-26 and 2026-27. He said Rs 95 crore was paid to contractors on September 7, 2026, towards bills pertaining to November and December 2025.
According to the Commissioner, Rs 1,680.11 crore was paid against 18,071 bills between 2019-20 and 2024-25.
The payments were Rs 239.02 crore against 3,271 bills in 2019-20, Rs 148.46 crore against 3,381 bills in 2020-21, Rs 249.53 crore against 2,700 bills in 2021-22, Rs 244.12 crore against 2,449 bills in 2022-23, Rs 526.73 crore against 4,119 bills in 2023-24 and Rs 272.25 crore against 2,151 bills in 2024-25.
Ketan Garg said GVMC accorded priority to clearing contractors’ bills and paid them every month through General Funds, subject to availability.
He said the State Government had been supporting the development of Greater Visakhapatnam through grants under the Urban Challenge Fund, AMRUT, the 15th Finance Commission and UFRMP. It had also been supporting the use of GVMC General Funds for city development, infrastructure improvement and civic services, he said.
The Commissioner said the contribution of contractors in executing development and infrastructure works was important and reiterated that their bills were being cleared regularly. He said details of payments to contractors were recorded in GVMC’s financial records and reiterated that no GVMC General Funds had been diverted to Amaravati. He urged contractors and the public not to circulate unverified information about GVMC’s financial affairs.