VIJAYAWADA: Amaravati Bonds issued by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has led to a war of words between ruling and Opposition parties in the State. While the YSRC described the claims of oversubscription of bonds as a farce, the TDP countered it by asking the YSRC leaders to get the facts right.
Reiterating that the Chandrababu Naidu government has been pushing the State into a debt trap, YSRC MLA and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said the publicity on oversubscription of Amaravati Bonds was a farce as the rate of interest, need and terms of the issue were shady.
Speaking to media persons on Sunday, Buggana said the bonds issued by the CRDA were at 10.75 per cent interest to be paid quarterly, but nowhere does such a lenient clause exist. “Now, Nara Lokesh boasting of oversubscription is ridiculous and one should remember that bonds are nothing but raising loans, which means increasing the debt burden of the State and there is no reason to celebrate such an event,” he said.
Countering Buggana’s claims, TDP official spokesperson Lanka Dinakar said it is not the TDP, but the
YSRC leader who is going to media once in a while for getting cheap publicity.
“With regard to Amaravati Bonds, the Opposition should speak after getting facts right. Amaravati Bonds have received an overwhelming response, once again proving the brand image of Chandrababu Naidu. A total `1,300 crore worth of bonds were issued in the stock market and in just 90 minutes `2,000 crore worth of trading was done on them,” he said.
According to him, issuing bonds was not a new phenomenon and the same strategy was adopted by the Centre and various State governments in the past. However, CRDA has taken an approach to get the needed equity for the projects meant for the development of Amaravati without collateral securities and without causing FRBM problems for the government. He also cited the example of UP Power Corporation Bonds to make his point. “Is it not an issue to celebrate?” he wondered.
With regard to the statement of Buganna that issue of bonds is nothing but increasing the burden of debts on the people of the State, Dinakar maintained that Amaravati Bonds do not come under FRBM purview. But, he chose not to comment if the bonds would increase the debt burden of the State or not.